Good Guy
by lovly39
Summary: AU where Jaime goes to school at El Paso High. He gets average grades and has only one friend. Jaime doesn't think anything special of himself until he starts his new school year. And when a encounter with an auburn boy turns into friendship and develops slowly into something he's not willing to face, he soon finds himself going from whelmed to overwhelmed. Good grammar & spelling.
1. Chapter 1: Good guy

**I do not own Young Justice or any of its characters, those rights remain to Young Justice's original creators whomever they may be. I DO, however, own the plot and storyline written here.**

**Please leave comments/encouragement/reviews at the end of each chapter to motivate me faster~**

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**Chapter one: **

Jaime Reyes woke up to the sound of the alarm clock like every other day, with chicken whizee bags littering his bed and the blanket thrown half-off. Jaime stirred slowly and frowned at the cold air that instantly sapped heat from his bare torso when he moved from his warm spot in the bed.  
Stretching his stiff muscles, he groaned quietly and began his daily ritual of shower-dress-downstairs. But today's ritual was interrupted by the fact that when Jaime got out of his shower and into his room his only choice of shirts were wifebeaters.  
_Dios mio, where are all my shirts?_  
"Mom, where's my shirts?" Jaime asked as he got to the bottom of the steps. Today marked the end of summer vacation and the beginning of another year of high school. He at least wanted to _try_ to look decent.  
"Lo siento, están en la lavadora." his mom called back.  
Jaime groaned inward. There's no way they'd be out of the washer and dry in time for school.  
His little sister came out of the kitchen then and scrunched her nose as she covered her eyes like his body was painfully hideous to look at, "Jaime, cover up. You'll ruin my eyes." she whined petulantly.  
"Hey-" He interjected indignantly. There was nothing wrong with his body. He actually prided himself in having a very fit and (if he could be so bold) attractive body.  
"Whatever, Milagro, me quieras." Jaime retorted and walked back upstairs in hopes of finding a non-wifebeater shirt that his mom may have missed on her laundry-cleaning splurge.  
Unfortunately he had no such luck and had to simply accept that he was going to look like normal. Left with no real options, he decided to wear one of the newer, better looking (or at least less worn in) of the lot. It didn't _really_ matter since his friend, Tye, wasn't the type to care, but still.  
Jaime climbed back down the stairs with a shirt on this time and a backpack and sweater shoved under his arm.  
"Adios mom, I'm going to school now!" he called out as he grabbed an apple and headed past his little sister for his skateboard by the door.  
"Wait, Jaime!" his mom called back and Jaime stopped in his tracks, whilst shrugging his sweater on. His mom came out of the laundry room and down the hall, she was already dressed in her slacks and hotel manager blazer, her beautiful long silky hair pulled into a stiff mandatory knot.  
The Latino woman pulled him into a strong embrace, which Jaime returned after a moments pause.  
"Have a good day at school mi hijo, I'll take your sister to school and the bus will take her back so you don't have to worry about that okay?"  
"'Kay mom." Jaime smiled into her hair, he hadn't always been taller than her he thought, he remembered that just last year he had been the same height.  
"I love you." his mother gave a final squeeze before pulling back with a watery smile, bringing her hands to rest on his shoulders, "Are you sure you don't want a ride?"  
"Yeah mom. Tye and I already decided to skateboard there together."

Jaime saw the brief disapproval that swept over his mom's features but she didn't voice her objections to his basically only friend. Jaime had once discussed it with her and explained how Tye's actually a good guy, even if he doesn't like to show it. His mother had trusted his judgement and said that she'd trust him until she found reason not to. So that's where it was left, with a shaky alliance.  
"Okay. Be safe."  
"We will." he promised with a smile.  
Jaime pecked her on the cheek before dashing out, skateboard in hand.  
Tye lived down the street some ways and it was a easy detour to make on the way to school. When Jaime got to the front door he heard the tell-tale signs of Maurice being there. Ms. Longshadow's choice in boyfriends was less than ideal and to be frank Jaime thought the guy, Maurice, was a grade A asshole; a fine specimen of evolution done wrong.  
He knocked on the door and the loud voices paused. A few moments passed and he was about to knock again when the door burst open with a furious yank and Tye shoved his way out, a mumbled "Come on." leaving his lips for Jaime as he passed. Jaime paused for a second, frozen between his leaving friend and the open door. A quick glance at Maurice glaring at the youths inspired Jaime to shut the door and move to follow his friend.  
"Hey hermano, wait up." he called as he stepped on his board and pushed off, quickly catching up with his still fast-walking friend. Jaime was no fool, he could see the pinched expression on Tye's face and the angry reddening of his cheeks. He knew Maurice was an ass and Tye took the blunt force of his asshole-ness on a almost daily basis.  
"Listen man, he's just an asshole. Don't listen to what he says."  
Tye gave a strained breathe, "Whatever man." he jumped on his board, taking the lead and making Jaime hurry to keep up.  
At Rio Grande high school Tye and Jaime hung out before the bell rang and everyone, including them, headed towards the gym for their assembly. There was a surprising amount of freshmen this year Jaime noticed with a little awe as he looked across to where the freshmen were seated in their section of the gym's pullout bleachers. Tye snorted when Jaime voiced his awe, just saying how it'd be annoying having so many freshmen around.  
"I don't even know why they have these things." Tye's husky voice spoke only for Jaime to hear, "They're totally lame."  
Jaime just gave a noncommittal 'mm' before turning his attention back to the speaker. Unlike Tye, Jaime had nothing against assemblies-or school for that matter. Tye hated school and thought it was the most boring waste of time ever, while Jaime enjoyed the feel of learning new things and mastering new skills-not that he'd ever tell his friend. After the assembly Jaime and Tye went to their class table to recieve their schedule for the year.

"Whoa," Tye remarked as he scanned over Jaime's schedule, "Dude, did you seriously sign up for these classes?" he asked with his eyes slightly larger as he went further down the list.

"What?" Jaime looked over Tye's shoulder to observe what was wrong with his classes. He had signed up for all the same easy classes as Tye had so he was shocked to find that on the paper were anything but easy classes. "Wha?" his eyes widened as they fell on the most shocking of all-AP bio and Pre-calc.

Tye registered the shocked look on Jaime's face and handed the paper back, "They must have switched your schedule with someone's."

"Uh, oh, yeah man..." Jaime rubbed at the back of his neck self-conciously, "I'll just go to the office pronto and get my schedule..."

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.

After the bell rang to dismiss the students to their first class Jaime made a straight line for the front office, paper tightly gripped in his hand as if he were ready to throw it away or crumple it up at any moment. It had to be a joke, or a computer error. There's no way they would sign him up for those classes; Jaime had made sure that he recieved average grades in everything he did. There's no way it makes sense for them to give him these classes. He had to get to the office right now and sort this out.

"Oof!"

Jaime found himself thrown back suddenly.

He had collided painfully with some kid who had been in as much of a rush as he had been, only in the opposite dirrection-so their collision sent both of them bouncing back.

"Hey sorry man," Jaime looked down at the smaller kid who had been pushed back enough to be thrown off his feet. The unfortunate kid had the papers from his binder scrambled all over the hall, he was down on his knees scrambling himself to try and pick up the papers before the other students trampled all over them. For the most part they were stepping around the papers but no one was offering to help the young auburn either. Jaime bent down to help pile up the papers he had helped to spill.

"Hey, thanks bro!" The auburn said with a bright voice as Jaime handed him the papers he had gathered up.

"Uh, no, I actu-"

"Oh! Hey this is yours right?" The auburn was holding his schedule, "Jaime right?" he read, and then quickly scanned the schedule, "We have Bio and Pre-calc together-totally crash." the auburn rambled cheerfully with a grin plastered on his face.

"Uh-"

"Oh! I gotta get to my class!" Jaime noticed for the first time that the halls were pretty much empty, "Welp-here ya go!" He shoved the paper into Jaime's hands. "See you second period!" Then the auburn boy was dashing away at a surprisingly fast speed.

Jaime was frozen for a second, what the heck just happened?

.

.

.

"Hey, uh, I think I got the wrong schedule." Jaime said when the office secretary turned her attention towards him. She gave him a polite smile and rolled her chair closer to the counter that separated them. Jaime passed the paper to her, feeling a blush creep on his cheeks in embarrassment and chagrin.

The secretary neutrally took the paper and returned to her desk, typing and clicking a few things on her computer before rolling back over towards him, "You're Jaimes Reyes?"

Jaime nodded, "Yeah, I mean-"

"Then these are your classes. If you want them changed you can sign in here" she pulled up a clipboard with slots for names and reason for appt and placed it on the counter as she spoke, "sign here and write 'classes' to meet the councilor." She offered kindly with a smile and rolled back to her work.

"Uh..." Jaime stared at the paper which had been confirmed to be his... "Thanks?"

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As his current schedule was, Jaime had zero classes with Tye.  
He was a little worried about his schedule but he had decided to give it a try. If he didn't like it he could always switch it some time in the next two weeks.  
First period, he found, was easy. Apparently most students used it for a study hall with credits since they barely worked in there. The teacher spent most of the period introducing the class and herself before saying that they had one worksheet that needed to be turned in by the end of the week. As easy as it was, Jaime finished his before the period ended, using his free time to examine and memorize his schedule. First period intro to health, second period Pre-Calculas, Third period free period, fourth period AP bio, fifth period government/economics, sixth period English, and seventh period creative communications.  
Along with that he memorized the teachers names and room numbers.  
When the bell finally rang he took a deep breath and headed for his next class: Pre-calc.

He had been in this classroom before for algebra II but he didn't feel comforted at all by the familiarity. As he took a seat towards the back Jaime couldn't help but feel like an imposter who had snuck into the wrong class. When the teacher took rollcall he kept waiting for him to look at him and tell him that he'd walked into the wrong room. But that didn't happen. The teacher called Jaime's name, to which he responded a little reluctantly with a 'here' and a risen hand. The teacher then gave Jaime a smile that he didn't know the meaning behind and continued on his way. Just as the teacher was about to begin he scanned his eyes over the classes, "Any of you have an eye problem or can't see the board clearly?" he asked the class.  
The girl next to Jaime, he recognized her as Melissa a girl in his same grade, raised her hand hesitantly, "I don't get my contacts until next week." she explained apologetically.  
"Would anyone in the front row care to trade with Melissa?"  
Instantly a hand shot up from the middle front row.  
"Ah.." the teacher looked down at his clipboard, "Bart Allen?"  
"Yup." the auburn from before chirped as he quickly packed his stuff back up for the move.  
"That's very generous of you sir." the math teacher had a habit of calling all the males 'sir' and the females 'my dear', no one minded.  
Jaime watched as the auburn, Bart apparently, took the seat directly next to him.  
The teacher began with his introduction and his rehashing of what they'd all been taught last year in algebra II. Luckily Jaime retained information really well, so when the auburn, Bart he reminded himself, started talking he didn't miss anything.  
"Hey, Jaime." Bart whispered with that big goofy grin of his which Jaime was starting to think was permanently stuck on the kids face-speaking of which why was Bart in Pre-calc? Freshmen should be in algebra II tops.  
Bart whispered his name again when he got no response from the older teen.  
"What?" Jaime sighed, not bothering to turn to the kid as he scribbled down notes without thinking about their meaning.  
"It's totally crash that we're in the same class right? It's like destiny." There was that word again, 'crash', what the hell did that mean?  
Jaime turned his face to give an exasperated look until his soft brown met bright green eyes which left him a little disorientated. How hadn't he noticed those before? Jaime frowned at the younger teen and scrunched his eyebrows. He was still talking, something crash something mode. Jaime impatiently held up his hand to stop the green-eyed teen, "Wait," he whispered and was quickly rewarded with a hushed silence from the other teen, "What are you talking about? 'crash'? 'mode'?"  
Bart had just opened his mouth to answer when-"Pay attention in the back." the teacher commanded and both boys mouths shut with an audible snap before the teacher returned his attention to the board and continued. A few scattered laughs could be heard for a brief second.  
Jaime sunk into his seat and felt his blood race to color his cheeks. Jaime felt utterly humiliated and it was only the first day. He spent the remainder of the class shooting glares at the kid who had caused his embarrassment between taking notes on already well-known formulas, steps, and problems.  
Bart seemed wholly unphased as he switched easily from talking to working through problems with ease.

After second period was a break and then Jaime's free period. He felt annoyed to find that the auburn who had caused him embarrassment was hanging around him still as he packed his work and supplies.  
"So what do you have next?" the auburn asked without knowing the agitation that Jaime felt.  
Jaime ran his hand through his short black hair to help sooth his irritability. His hand subconsciously stopped at the base of his neck and began to broadly massage it. Jaime's anger subsided as he looked at Bart. Jaime was a whole head taller than the other boy, with broader shoulders and more defined muscles. If Bart had muscles they were wirey and lean like Bart's body. He let off a friendly, cheerful aura that Jaime was sure made the other boy popular with the girls. But his main attraction was his face, with auburn hair that was light and framed his features attractively. He didn't have those dorky freckles that so often accompanied auburns either, though Jaime was sure that if Bart did have them then they would only add to him and not take away. But the main allure was his eyes. Bart's eyes were a bright green like Jaime had never seen before, eyes that popped out almost as much as his personality.

"HELLO?" Bart drew out the word as he rapidly waved his hand before Jaime's eyes, "You in there?"

"Huh?" Jaime realized he'd been staring at Bart and had been asked a question which he couldn't quite remember any more, "Sorry, what was the question?"

Bart chuckled goodnaturedly, "I asked what you have next."

"Huh? Oh, free period."

"Sweet. I help in the office, which I hear is basically like a free period."

"Uh, cool." Jaime didn't know what to say. He didn't know why he was still here talking to Bart when he should be finding Tye to be getting persuaded out of keeping his classes.

"So maybe we'll see eachother!"

"Uh, yeah, maybe." Jaime looked at the clock, he didn't have long before the bell rang and he couldn't see Tye because he'd be in class.

"Oh you're leaving?" Bart observed as Jaime slung the backpack over his shoulder.

Jaime mumbled something about maybe seeing him later before exiting the classroom.

"Hey man, where've you been?" Tye looked at Jaime's serious face before it relaxed with familiarity.  
"Sorry ese, there was-" Jaime was about to tell Tye about Bart, the cheery freshman that seemed to want to be his friend, until he thought better of it, knowing Tye's response even before he gave it.  
"I don't know." Jaime mumbled as he dropped his backpack to the table-bench that Tye was leaning on, "So, how are your classes so far?"  
A satisfied smile reached Tye's lips, "So easy. Business man is laughable."  
Business math, that's what Jaime should have too.  
Jaime let out a nervous laugh, "Yeah, Pre-calc doesn't seem that bad either."  
There was a pause where Tye gave Jaime a weird look, "Wait, you mean you're sticking with those classes?"  
Jaime shifted his gaze around before looking at Tye again and rubbing the back of his neck out of habit, "I figured I'd give it a try. If I don't like it I can always switch out."  
"Whatever man," Tye shook his head, "You wanna hit the arcade after school?"  
Jaime thought about it; he didn't have to take his sister home apparently but he also didn't know how much homework he had yet.  
Ah screw it, Jaime thought, it's the first day of school-they won't give us any homework.

AP Bio, as Jaime expected, was filled with the top people of his class, people that he didn't know other than from pictures on the school bulletin, and that persistent auburn that seemed to have a fix on Jaime. The second that Jaime took a seat in the middle area of the two-seat tables Bart was there, stealing the seat right out from under a sophomore girl who had obviously been heading for that seat.  
"Heyyy Jaime." Bart drawled smoothly.  
"Hey." Jaime greeted. He didn't dislike the kid; in fact, in the little snips of conversations they had shared he had grown a little fond of him, but he also didn't expect the kid to stay around him once he got to know him. Jaime wasn't well known even in his class. He was just that unknown variable that fell through the social cracks. Maybe it was the way he always lapsed into Spanish when he got frustrated or nervous. Maybe it was the way he mumbled things to himself when he thought no one was listening. But either way no one was interested in what Jaime Reyes was doing-why should Bart Allen be any different?

"So we're Bio partners now too." Bart remarked as he pulled out his binder and pencil.

Jaime mimicked the action; he didn't know what else really to do and it didn't seem like a bad idea. While he did this he let out a breath and decided to say what he'd been thinking for a while. "Why are you doing this?"

Bart's head quirked to the side curiously. "Doing what?" he asked, his eyebrows scrunched together to form a crease.

"This." Jaime gestured with his hands to the seat Bart had chosen, then to the space between them, then to himself, and lastly to everything in general, "Why are you so interested in me?"

Bart's eyebrows seemed to form a deeper crease.

Jaime waited for an answer for almost a whole minute until the bell rang and he accepted that he wasn't going to get one. He broke the eyecontact that he had with Bart and turned his eyes reluctantly to the board where the teacher was beginning to write all about cells and their structure.

"Because I can tell you're one of the good guys."

The sentence caught Jaime off guard. The serious tone it was spoken with didn't seem to match Bart at all, and Jaime didn't even register it was Bart that had said until a few seconds afterwards. Then he had to remember what question it was answering. Finally he had to actually figure out what the words meant put together.

A 'good guy', huh, Jaime thought, that was a new one. He didn't know what to think of it other than it was new.

He caught Bart glancing at him throughout the class after that and he found it considerably harder to focus when he had the younger teen's words echoing in his head.

"Hey Tye," Jaime spoke between bites of his sandwich, "Would you say I'm a 'good guy'?"

Tye raised an eyebrow before lowering his own sandwich, "A good guy? Like a super hero?"

"I don't know." Jaime rubbed his neck and focused on his coarse hands over his warm, tan skin.

"I don't know man," Tye's husky voice dipped into the tone that Jaime knew meant he was was curious, "So what's up with the weird question?"

"Uh..." Jaime met Tye's dark brown eyes with his own soft brown before flicking them back to his sandwich, "I...what would you think if someone said that they thought you were a 'good guy'?" Jaime's head was swimming for reasons he didn't know and he didn't like the feeling of being so confused.

Tye's lip quirked up in the corner. His friend was so oblivious sometimes, sometimes he really needed things to be spelled out to him. "I..." he purposedly drew a pause, "would think they like me."

That must have done it, Tye thought; because at those words Jaime began to choke on the air he was swallowing.

L-like?, Jaime thought, Dios mio, that can't be right.

"Shit Tye." Jaime coughed out as he registered his friends laughter, "That's not funny."

"Seriously though, who is she?" Tye asked with a grin formed on his lips.

"Sh-shut up! Like I'd tell you man!"

"Whatever" Tye rolled his eyes, "First girl I see you with is suspect number one."

Somehow that's fine with me, Jaime thought, since it's not a girl.

"Whatever." Jaime grunted as he put his almost done sandwich down and crossed his arms over his chest.

Tye chuckled a little more before letting the topic drop and the conversation flow into different areas.

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Seventh period Jaime got another surprise as he walked into the current events room. Actually, he got a few; the first was that there were more than one teachers-there were two, while the second was that Bart Allen was quickly becoming what Jaime referred to as a 'stalker'. The younger teen's face had lit up the second that he saw Jaime walk through the door and he had quickly waved him over to share the table he was at. Jaime, being someone who didn't like to insult others, obliged and took the seat next to the auburn.

"Dude! This is so destiny!" Bart exclaimed, "It's like the universe saying we should be friends!"

"Dios mio." Jaime mumbled, "How does this keep happening?"

"I told you-universe."

He heard that?

"I still don't get what's wrong with you." Jaime mumbled.

"Wrong?" Bart's eyebrows knit together, "Nothing's wrong. I just have good eyes."

El es loco.

"What do we do in this class anyways?" Jaime asked as he rested his overheated face against the cool table. Why does everything about this guy feel so difficult?

"I don't know." Bart chirped cheerfully, "But I hear it's totally easy and fun."

Jaime closed his eyes and waited for the clock to tic to the beginning of the class.

"Can anyone tell me what we do in creative communications?" one of the two teachers asked.

No hands.

"Anyone?...Yes, you."

"Don't we watch movies and then make movies?"

"Correct we watch movies more indepth and observe the techniques used in-"

Oh, Jaime thought, so that's what we do in here.

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Jaime exited the classroom the second that the bell rang and found Tye in the front of the school.

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One of the reasons that Jaime's mom didn't like Tye Longshadow was because he constantly made Jaime come home late, such was the case today-or rather *tonight*.

"Jaime!" His mom gave him a stern look as he tried to slip through the front door unnoticed, "Dinner's cold. Where were you?" her accent was heaviest when she was angry.

"Lo siento mom, fue con Tye." Jaime tried to ease her anger.

His mother's face darkened but she clipped off whatever she was going to say next, instead saying, "Call me next time you're going to be late." Her voice was void of the emotions but the accent still lingered, something that he thought was a lot scarier than when she yelled at him.

"I didn't realize..." he heard his voice waver, he should have called her...

His mom let out a sigh and her face instantly softened, "I'm sorry I got angry. Go wash up and I'll re-heat dinner."

"Si."

"How was school?" she asked as he returned and took a seat at the table.

"I..." Jaime paused, and instead of explaining it he decided to pull the paper with his schedule out. He passed it to her as she placed his plate down. Her eyes slowly looked over the schedule as she registered each class with awe.

"Impressive mi hijo." she complemented, "I always knew you were intelligent."

Jaime's cheeks and ears reddened at the complement, "I-you don't think it'll be too hard for me?"

"Of course not." she didn't paused to answer, "You are so much smarter than you lead yourself to think."

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Jaime fell asleep that night with thoughts of a new perspective of himself. He imagined himself being 'smart' and a 'good guy' and felt a smile tug on his lazy lips as he slipped into blissful dreams.


	2. Chapter 2: First time over

**Chapter two:**

The next few days passed without incident. Jaime found that he understood the classes about as much as everyone else, and with the use of first period and his free period, Jaime almost never did homework at home. He stumbled and grew frustrated with his lack of understanding at times, but he dealt with it. He had even found himself growing used to the bouncy ball of erratic energy which was Bart. Though he didn't dare to give any hint to his warming up, still predicting the recoil that was inevitable.  
Tye had forgotten the conversation about the 'girl' that liked Jaime, and so had Jaime.  
The teachers had grown used to their new perspective of Jaime as a AP student, and so had Jaime. It was just Tye who couldn't adjust his vision of Jaime and of generally what he knew to be familiar and right. Jaime was his friend, they'd been friends since kindergarten. He knew him better than anyone else, and the thing about Jaime was that he was exceptionally average when it came to grades.  
"Hey Jaime," Tye said one day during lunch from their bench-table, "Who's that kid that's been hanging around you lately?"  
Jaime's heart skipped a beat for fear; Tye had noticed Bart.  
"Wh-who?" shit, Jaime thought. He didn't know why he was so worried about Tye finding out about Bart, maybe it was because he didn't think that Tye would like Bart and that would force Jaime to push the auburn away faster than he wanted to. He knew it was inevitable but he still wanted to prolong his time with the younger teen.  
"You know man, that auburn. Looks like a freshman but is a sophomore." Tye said in that tired way of speaking that he said most things in. He had a way of speaking that showed just how boring and dull he thought life was.  
"Oh" Jaime just barely stifled a stutter, "I don't know, he's okay."  
Tye raised an eyebrow, did Jaime actually make a new friend? He wondered with awe. It was rare that Jaime talked to anyone but him and Tye would never admit it but he sometimes worried about him.  
"Yeah?" Tye drawled slowly, "Huh, he seems like a nerd."  
Jaime's head snapped up to face Tye's with almost enough suddenness to cause whiplash.  
Tye looked at the buildings with his usual passive face before his eyes met with Jaime's for a fraction of a second and a slow, barely there smile tugged at one corner of his lips. Jaime smiled broadly in response, "Yeah, but he's not so bad..."

After that no more was said about Bart and the conversation flowed to it's usual comfortable pattern.  
Government and English passed easily with only in-class reading and work. When Creative Communications came Jaime and Bart's half of the class was in the middle of watching _Psycho_.

"This is totally retro." Bart whisper when the screen showed beautiful actress Janet Leigh stepping into the shower.

Jaime leaned in also, "Shhh, ese, this is the best part."

"You've seen this before?" Bart questioned as they both kept their eyes glued to the literal bloodbath.

"'Course, haven't you?" Jaime responded just as the mysterious murderer finished the evil task.

Bart shook his head, "Nuh-uh. Old movies are totally crash though."

Jaime had gotten the confusing explanation of 'crash' and 'mode' a few days ago and he still didn't understand _why_ crash was good and mode was bad. It seemed backwards to him, but he accepted that his own logic didn't apply and crash was good while mode was bad.

"My mom loves old movies, we have a whole case filled with 'em."

"That's so crash. I wish we had that at our house, but we only have mainstreams movies-so mode."

Shit, this was going against everything he believed in but...

"You could come over and watch some if you want..." Jaime offered with carefully calculated indifference. He was proud how perfectly his voice had obeyed and his eyes didn't wander to Bart, even if they did want to.

Bart's eyes flickered to Jaime's side profile. He felt bubbles floating in his stomach. He'd never been invited to someone's house before. He wondered how he was supposed to get there and what he should bring, he remembered that in one show the neighbors had brought a pineapple when they'd come over-should he do the same? First he had to accept.

OKAY Bart, just be cool. First time having a friend. Noooo biggie, Bart thought to himself anxiously, Just accept with a simple 'sure'.

"Su-sure." he attempted indifference and cursed at the nervous bubbles that made him stammer.

Jaime suppressed the smile that tried to form on his lips.

"Okay, whenever is good for you." he leaned back, content with how this had gone. His eyes were still on the screen but he was hardly watching it.

"For me?" Bart asked, "Uh..." When did friends usually come over, "Is saturday good for you?"

"Sure. Where do you live?"

"Uh..." Bart had a spike of panic, he nervously worried his lower lip, "How about I go to your house? I mean, we'd be watching it there right?" he squeaked out quickly.

Jaime nodded, "Sure."

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Friday came quickly after that and Jaime and Tye were planning their friday afternoon while walking through the lunchtime bustle when they had just decided on skating over to the new theater in El Paso.

"Shit," Tye cursed, "I forgot my lunch."

Jaime and Tye came to a halt, "Go ahead, I just gotta go to my locker." Tye frowned as he shoved his hands into his pockets and did a 180, backtracking to his locker on the far side of school.

Jaime continued on the way through the labyrinth that was the inside of El Paso High School. Students were walking through the halls in all directions and without the protective cushion that Tye gave, Jaime found himself being bumped in the shoulders occasionally. Tye always preferred the more direct route, but since he was gone now Jaime decided he would take the indirect, less crowded route. He rounded off to the right and was relieved to feel considerably less claustrophobic. He took turn after turn in a leisurely, comfortable stroll, enjoying the occasional view that the second story of the high school gave.

Jaime heard Conner and Tim's voices from down the hall. They were the school bullies and frequent detention goers. Jaime had never had to worry about them because Tye was like a delinquent idol at their school so by association Jaime also was untouchable. From the few words he picked up they were obviously tormenting some poor underclassman. He looked where the voices were coming from and recognized it as the sophomore's lockers-their common hunting grounds.

He started to walk in the direction of the voices when all of a sudden he got painfully slammed into the lockers beside him. There was a loud reverberating sound of metal against skulls and limbs and Jaime let out a grunt upon contact.

"Dios mio, that hurt." he rubbed at a new sore spot on the back of his head, that along with his elbow smarted sharply.

"Sorry," He heard a surprisingly feminine voice, "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you anywhere did I?"

"Huh?" Jaime looked up into bright blue eyes and a mane of blonde hair that fell down over feminine shoulders.

He saw recognition cross the girl's face when he looked up at her and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

"Jaime," her voice was odd in the way that she seemed nervous to say his name, "You're Tye's friend right?"

"Uh, yeah." Jaime finally collected enough dignity to pick himself off of the hallway floors before anyone saw him sitting there, "You know Tye?"

"Uh..." the girls blue eyes shifted to the left, "Not really, we just have business math together...Uhm. Anyway, I'm-sorry about uh, running into you. I kinda need to learn to look where I'm going."

Jaime noticed for the first time what she was wearing, "You're in sports?"

"Huh?" her cerulean orbs widened with wonder, "Oh." she pulled at her school team shirt, "Yeah, volleyball, soccer, and whenever I can I go to swimming workouts."

"Wow." and Jaime meant it.

"Yeah, I kinda don't know my own limits anymore."

"No kidding." He suddenly remembered Conner and Tim and his eyes drifted in the direction that he had heard their voices.

"I was..." he motioned towards the way he was heading before she had collided with him.

"OH!" she gasped as she remembered herself, "I'M SO SORRY!" she was completely frantic with apology, "I-I HAVE GOT TO GO. I'm sorry for running into you!" she then bolted towards the way that he had came, in the same reckless way that had caused her to crash in the first place.

When Jaime had gone to where he had heard Conner and Tim he was met with an empty hall.

Figuring there was nothing to be done now, he shrugged it off and continued on his way to the bench-table that he and Tye sat at during lunch. Tye was already there and waiting when he arrived.

"What took you so long?" Tye asked as Jaime sat down.

"Ran into some girl."

Tye's eyebrow rose, "Hot?"

Jaime thought about it, he really thought about it. She was attractive, he supposed, but he didn't personally think she was hot-though he was sure others thought she was.

"You'd probably like her."

Tye's other eyebrow joined the first, "Yeah? What's her name?"

"Uh..." Jaime rubbed his neck, "Kinda didn't get a name, hermano."

"You are so hopeless." Tye sighed deeply as he said this.

"Sorry, ese."

.

.

.

Jaime jolted from his bed with a suddenness that left him reeling with dizziness.

He had been woken by a sound, but now that he was awake he didn't remember what that sound was and he wondered what it was.

The door bell rung, DING DONG, and he figured that was logically the source of his forced wake-up.

A quick glance to the clock told him that he was the only one home today; his mom was at work all day until late tonight and his sister was at a soccer game out of town.

"Coming!" He tried to call loud enough for whoever was downstairs at the door to hear, which they obviously didn't since the doorbell ring again in rapid succession. He was trying to find a shirt when the doorbell's impatience became too much and he gave in to its urgency.

"Coming, coming!" he hollered as he took the stairs in steps of three.

"Hello?" He asked as he opened the front door just enough for his head. There standing before him was Bart Allen with a curious eyebrow raised.

"Wha-" Jaime stopped himself as he remembered inviting Bart over on Wednesday, "Is it that time already?" he knew the answer but looked at the clock on the entrance hallway's wall anyway.

"Sorry." Jaime stepped aside so that Bart didn't have to keep standing on the doorstep, "Come on in, I just have to..." Jaime stopped, wondering if he should still go to shower when he had a guest. He was so caught up in his own thoughts of proper manners that he didn't notice Bart's eyes widen.

Bart couldn't stop his eyes from being drawn to the exposed skin of Jaime's torso. He had known from PE that he was a little different, but seeing Jaime's tan, flat, taut chest and soft abs made Bart's mind stop. His eyes couldn't have been there for more than a couple seconds but he quickly diverted his eyes from his friend's body and to a safer object-the wall beside him.

"Just woke up huh?" Bart took in the current situation quickly, and played it as casually as he knew how "Go ahead and do your daily ritual." he said coolly, mostly out of need to get away from shirtless Jaime. He could already feel the blood creeping up to stain his cheeks red and he quickly turned his head to hide the blush.

He noticed Jaime was about to protest out of politeness and quickly inserted, "Where's your kitchen?"

Jaime blinked as his mind blanked, "Uh...that way." He pointed towards the kitchen door and watched as Bart headed off in that direction, leaving him standing there feeling a little off.

.

.

.

After his shower Jaime quickly shoved himself into the first clean shirt and pants he saw.

When he entered the kitchen the first thing he saw was the various ingredients scattered all over his counter. Then his eyes fell on Bart Allen sitting comfortably in his kitchen eating a sandwich that was probably 3 inches thick.

"Hey, her-man-oh." Bart smiled smoothly before taking another bite of his monstrous creation, "I made you one too."

Jaime finally understood why so many American girls reacted so strangely when he spoke Spanish to them. It really did sound...seductive, coming from the right mouth.

"Th-thanks." Jaime tried to shake off the weird feeling he'd just gotten.

"Any time." Bart promptly answered before another bite.

"We can eat these in the living room," Jaime said as he grabbed the plate with his sandwich, "That's where the movies are."

"Okay." Bart hopped down from the stool and landed agilely, falling in line behind Jaime.

"So where's your folks?" He asked as he plopped down on the couch, his sandwich made quick work of. Jaime set his sandwich on the coffee table in front of the couch and went to the movie shelves, scanning over the many titles, his finger following his eyes.

"My mom's at work and my sister, Milagro, is at an out of town soccer game."

"Huh, so it's just us?"

Jaime's finger stopped and he thought that his heart might of also for a moment, they were alone. Why did that make him so anxious?

"Si."

Come on ese, nothing to get weird about, Jaime thought to himself.

Bart crossed his arms behind his head, "That's fine with me."

"What kind of movie do you want to see?" Jaime asked as his finger started moving again.

"Mm?" Bart hummed, and a moment later Jaime felt Bart move in right behind him, "Are _all_ of these classics?"

"Yeah." Jaime moved out of the way for the excited younger teen to get a closer look, "I told you; my mom's a collector."

"This is so crash!"

Bart began scanning the shelves excitedly, bending his knees one second and standing on his tip-toes the next.

"Whoa! You have this even?" Bart pulled out a movie that Jaime recognized easily.

"That's not exactly a classic." Jaime said with a smile tugging at one corner of his lips.

His comment was met with immediate opposition as the auburn zoomed in on him, invading his space a little and waving the dvd box around frantically as he spoke, "Are you crazy? Of course it is! This is like the beginning of the best movie series ever! This started the space race and sci-fi!" Jaime doubted that Star Wars was responsible for Russia and America sending giant chunks of metal into space, but he didn't voice it and instead smiled as he stared down at the younger teen's passion-filled eyes.

"So you want to watch that?" Jaime raised an eyebrow in amusement, a smirk playing on his lips.

Bart gave a pitiful look as he looked back at all the options the shelves offered him, his eyes growing big and doe-like as his pouted his lips, unable to make a solid decision.

Jaime felt the pull of the younger boys cuteness and in a moment of fear ruffled the other teen's hair, "Damelo." he said as he snatched the box easily.

"We have all day." he reminded as he went to the dvd player and popped open the box.

"All day?" Bart seemed happy to hear that, "Crash."

.

.

.

The whole series of Star Wars, North by Northwest, and 5 bags of popcorn later Jaime decided it was time for a break and dinner. Bart agreed as he got up and stretched his legs with a few quiet moans of pain. Jaime had gotten a calls halfway through the 3rd Star Wars movie from both his sister and mom says that Milagro had decided to spend the night at her friends house so he didn't need to worry when she didn't come home.

Jaime got up and headed to the kitchen to make some quick food, which meant either leftovers or junk food. He decided some leftovers would be best and pulled out last nights chicken, absently wondering if Bart liked chicken. Crossing over the kitchen to grab a teapot he began the steps of tea making, "Hey, do you want some tea?" he called to the living room where Bart was still moaning.

"Yeah." Bart's returning call came, followed by the sound of socks padding across wood flooring.

Bart came in just as naturally as someone who had lived there for years, "So where's your room?"

"Upstairs." Jaime supplied and glanced to find the auburn looking at the ceiling as if he could see through the sheet rock and wood.

"Huh." Bart said with finality as he looked away from the ceiling and in Jaime's direction.

The microwave went off and Jaime went over to it, pulling the chicken he had heated out and splitting it into two proportions on separate plates. Then he took the teapot from the stove as it began to whistle and poured two of that also.

The boys ate in content silence.

It was halfway through their impromptu dinner when there was a sound of keys and then the door opening, "Jaime," they heard his mom call into the house, "Volví. Donde estas?"

"Estamos aqui mama, en la cocina."

"What'd you say?" Bart whispered.

"I told her that we're in the kitchen." Jaime whispered back.

"Is that Tye with you?" his mom asked before she appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.

Her eyes widened as they fell upon a new face sitting beside her son. She was beginning to think that Tye would be Jaime's only friend forever, apparently Jaime had been hiding some friends from her.

"Who is this?" she asked with a motherly smile as she stared at the strange sight of an unfamiliar face in her kitchen. The boy was small and he seemed nervous, but he had a cute face, and he didn't seem like trouble, she observed.

"This is-"

"I'm Bart Allen." Bart stood to greet her and outstretched a hand, "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Reyes."

She took the offered hand with a sincere, benevolent smile and returned the pleasure, "Pleased to meet you too Bart." she looked around the room. "I see I don't have to make dinner tonight." she observed as her eyes swept over the plates in front of the boys.

"I left enough chicken for you." Jaime informed her.

"Gracias mi hijo."

Bart watched the older woman step tiredly to the fridge and heat herself up a plate of the remaining chicken.

After she was finished she moved to the kitchen doorway with her plate as she spoke. "I'm going to eat in the living room, can you move your video watching into your room Jaime?" she asked, and despite her being the parent Bart somehow felt that she was really asking Jaime and not just telling him to.

"No problem." Jaime responded.

"Gracias, estoy tan cansada." she sighed tiredly.

"Don't fall asleep on the couch again." Jaime chided.

"I won't mi hijo."

"Good."

"Buenas noches." she said.

"Buenas noches." Jaime responded with a soft, caring smile.

"Te quiero." she said.

"Te quiero." he responded.

Then Jaime's mom looked at Bart and he felt his heart skip a nervous beat, "Bart," she said and her voice soothed his nerves instantly, "you can spend the night if you wish. It's late. And don't feel like you have to leave right away." then she left the room.

Bart looked to Jaime and Jaime shrugged in response, "Do you want to stay longer?"

.

.

.

Back in Jaime's room the two teens continued their movie marathon, using Jaime's bed now instead of the couch. The two were considerably closer as they were only an inch apart at the shoulders. Which was distracting for the smaller of the two. Bart was looking at the television but it wasn't registering, forgotten and easy to block out since it was made in war time and the characters often switched between French, German, and English without subtitles. Him staying hadn't just been about watching as many movies as he could, that was a part of it but only a small part, it had mostly been about not leaving. He swept his loose hair away from his face and his eyes wandered, landed on Jaime's tan hands which were resting on his own denim-covered knees. He found himself painfully aware of his own benefit of the situation. He kept thinking back to the first time he met Jaime and had been instantly drawn to know the other boy. "You tired?" Bart finally murmured. It was late and he was probably imposing by now.

But Jaime only shrugged. "Not really. You?" He had to admit, he really didn't want Bart to leave. Before Bart could answer, Jaime cut in, "Just- just stay over." He realized it was a selfish request, but wasn't quite able to keep it from slipping past his lips.

The other boy's green eyes turned on him then, maybe a little bit surprised. But after a moment, he answered, "Okay." And then he was leaning back into the space he'd just left and his shoulder pressed lightly into Jaime's.

Somehow, inexplicably, this small contact, along with Bart's simple affirmation, was enough to let Jaime relax, and permanently relax. Somehow that affirmation and small contact made it so Jaime no longer thought it was inevitable that Bart would leave him.

It probably wasn't long after that when Jaime fell asleep. He remembered seeing Bart text his parents that he was staying the night but beyond that he couldn't remember much. He remembered his heightened awareness of the parts of their bodies where they touched, and of the warmth of another person next to him.

That night Jaime had the best night of sleep he'd ever had...

* * *

**Remember that reviews motivate me to write! ^^ So show your love for Jaime and Bart by clicking that review button!**


	3. Chapter 3: Best Morning EVER!

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it.**

**I changed Jaime's little sister's name to Milagro.**

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

"Jaime..." he heard a voice that echoed to the point of not being a single voice. Jaime looked around his surroundings and recognized he was dreaming. He was in a house he'd never been in, in a room he'd never seen.

"Where am I?" He asked the voice and was surprise when he got no answer. He huffed and tried the door; locked. Why could he never dream pleasant things? Like that he'd found a million dollars or that he won a tropical cruise...

"Quieres saber donde estas?" the voice asked, sounding confused. _(do you want to know where you are?)  
_  
It spoke Spanish, Jaime recognised and responded, "Si."

"No se." _(I don't know.)  
_  
Worse dream ever.

Stupid voice.

"Quien eres?" Jaime asked, hoping to at least get one answer. _(Who are you?)  
_  
"Yo? Soy tu. Soy Jaime Reyes." _(Me? I'm you. I'm Jaime Reyes.)  
_  
"You're me?" Jaime asked confused now. He didn't like the sound of that.

"No you're not." Jaime insisted, "I'm me."

"Yes." the voice answered.

"You speak English?" Jaime asked exasperated.

No response.

"Grr!" Jaime face palmed himself, "This is the stupidest dream ever! What is going on!"

"Dude!" a new voice suddenly came from outside the door, "What are you doing in there?"

It was Bart.

"Bart! Hermano! Let me out!" Jaime came to the door quickly knocking against the hard wood.

The door opened and Bart held out his hand, "You wanted out?"

Jaime suddenly wanted to stay in the room. He looked past Bart and saw the bottom of the sea; dark, thick waters threatening to crush him.

"Come on." Bart grabbed his wrist and pulled, yanking Jaime into the bottom of the sea. Jaime instinctively clutched his throat, feeling the pressures of the waters press him to his knees and the dark waters threaten to fill his burning lungs.

Bart was eerily calm as Jaime strained to keep the air in his lungs, as he felt his strength fail him and his lungs burn as if on fire. Jaime looked for the door back to the room but it was gone, there was no escape, he was going to drown.

"What are you doing?" Bart's voice was watery but clear, "You can brea-"

"Jaime! Breakfast!"

Jaime moaned miserably as he rolled over and pulled the covers up over his head, snuggling his head deeper into his pillow and pulling his legs in to preserve more warmth. The dream receded to the recesses of his mind and was soon buried.

"Five more minutes mom..." Jaime mumbled uselessly.

"Jaime!" There was a knocking at the door accompanied by a high-pitched feminine voice, "Mom says now!"

"Milagro, basta ya." Jaime moaned miserably as his warm fog of sleepiness dissipated.

"I don't know what you're saying!" Milagro hmph'ed and stomped away.

"Mentirosa!" Jaime called back, "I know you know Spanish!"

"Ugh." a foreign voice groaned from the end of Jaime's bed.

Jaime raised an eyebrow as he remembered Bart. He lifted the bed cover to see Bart's feet and legs. Jaime stared at the grey socks and denim pants in stupefaction. Then an idea came to him which formed a devilish smile on his lips which he couldn't force down even if he wanted to.

He folded the cover down to Bart's knees and moved very slowly until he was over the covers and then he executed his plan with quick efficiency, straddling Bart backwards and grabbing his ankle. Jaime began to tickle Bart's feat mercilessly, to which Bart responded quickly by squirming and kicking his legs with fits of giggles. Jaime's laughs mixed together with Bart's as he continued.

"He-hey! Hehehehe! Le-let go!" tears were coming from the corners of Bart's eyes as he squirmed harder in an attempt to be free of Jaime's morning torture.

"Que?" Jaime called back maniacally, "Lo siento, no hablo ingles!" He cackled evilly as he continued the action that made Bart scream in laughter.

"Du-dude!" Bart squeaked between laughter, "Please please!" he let out an exceptionally high laughter, "My side hu-hurts!"

"Beg." Jaime commanded.

"PLEASE! Please Jaime!" Bart begged instantly for relief.

Jaime laughed victoriously one last time before slacking his grip and being instantly bucked off.

"DUDE!" Bart's face was bright red and his eyes popped even more like that, "SO not crash!"

Bart's pushed Jaime's shoulder, the abuse only seemed to produce more explosions of laughter from the older teen.

"Jaime!" Milagro called through the door again, "If you guys don't come down you're not getting breakfast!"

"Yeah, yeah Milagro," Jaime called back with a broad smile, "We'll be just a minute."

Bart and Jaime disentangled their limbs and climbed out of the bed and down to the kitchen where they could now smell their breakfast cooking.

"That smells great Mrs. Reyes." Bart commented honestly as he entered the kitchen.

Jaime's mom returned the complement with a sincere smile before she flipped another pancake over.

"Plates are on the table, help yourself." she said the magic words and Bart's heart swelled with gratitude as he saw the large plate standing in the middle of the dining table, pancakes stacked up high and already buttered lightly.

Jaime took a seat beside his little sister and Bart took the seat on the other side of him. Jaime grabbed his fork and took two pancakes for himself. Bart took his fork also and took four pancakes and the syrup after Jaime.

"Ese, you gonna be about to eat all those?" Jaime asked as he stared at Bart's pancakes which were currently being drowned in syrup.

"Just watch." Bart smiled wickedly as he went to cutting up the pancakes.

Mrs. Reyes came back with the next batch of pancakes and all were shocked to see Bart going for seconds, this time grabbing two more.

"Psst," Milagro leaned over to Jaime as Bart started in on his fifth pancake, "Where's it all go?" she whispered as she watched the auburn shovel in mouthful after mouthful.

"No se." Jaime was also mesmerized by the sight.

"I think he might be an alien."

"Maybe."

"Should we tell mom?"

"Should we tell the government?"

"Does the government like aliens?"

"Why not?"

"I can hear you." Bart sung as he leaned back and patted his stomach appreciatively.

"Thank you for the meal Mrs. Reyes." He almost purred with contentment.

"No problem Bart, it's good to see a boy with a healthy appetite."

"So Jaime," Mrs. Reyes started to clear off the table, "Do you and Bart have plans for today?"

"Mom..." Jaime whined.

"No? That's good." She came back for the plate of untouched pancakes, "I need you to go to the store for me."

"Mom, Bart doesn't-" Jaime was cut off by Bart.

"Chores? Totally crash!" he chirped and everyone in the room gave him a confused look. Two because they didn't know what 'crash' meant and the other because he did know what crash meant.

"Uhm, yes." Jaime's mom guessed from his tone that it was a positive thing to be 'crash'.

"No complaining Jaime, you know I need to take your sister to a birthday party today. I just want you to buy some things."

"Yes mom." Jaime mumbled, defeated.

.

.

.

"I gave you the list, so don't forget to go to the store." His mom said from the doorway, "Behave you two." she said and with a wink exited the house with Milagro in tow.

Jaime let out a breath and rubbed at his neck. He couldn't figure Bart out however much he tried to.

"Are you ready?" Bart shoved his arms into Jaime's borrowed grey sweater, it was large on him but it was cold in the morning. The auburn tried not to think too hard about the smell of Jaime hugging him, it was distracting to say the least. He distracted himself by focusing on the enthusiasm he felt about going shopping. He sat down to jerk his shoes on. He'd never gone shopping before and he couldn't wait. He always wondered what the inside of grocery stores looked like and smelled like in person but he was too embarrassed to go in there by himself with no reason.

"How do you plan on getting there hermano?" Jaime asked as Bart pulled on the doorknob.

"Huh?" Bart looked at him, his bright green eyes flashing confused.

"My mom just took the car, the buses don't run here either." Jaime pointed out.

Bart felt his insides flatten, "But..." his eyes shifted in thought, searching for another way, "How do you get there usually?" he asked.

Bart noticed for the first time that Jaime was holding something as he lifted it into his view; a skateboard. "Do you ride?"

Bart gulped down air. Was this going to be worth it?, he wondered.

.

.

.

"I feel stupid." Bart complained in Jaime's driveway, looking down at the mode of transportation that he'd been given.

"What's wrong?" Jaime smiled evilly as he placed his skateboard down on the ground.

"Why can't I just ride your spare skateboard?" he whined petulantly.

"It's not my fault you fall off the board ese." And Bart _had_ fallen off the board. He'd fallen off the board almost as instantly as he'd stood on it and he had the bruises to prove it.

"Yeah, but, this..." Bart mumbled, "This is cruel."

"Come on hermano." Jaime pushed off on his skateboard, then called back "Just don't follow too close, I don't want to be seen with you like that." he snickered evilly as Bart started to pedal after him on his kid sister's bright pink bicycle with tinfoil streamers on the side of each handle. He had roller skates that Bart could have borrowed but this, he snickered, this was a lot more amusing.

.

.

.

The ride to Safeway seemed twice as long as it should have. Bart's face was bright red when they arrived, not from exertion but from embarrassment. He dumped the bike on the bike rack and willed for someone to steal the damned thing. When they finally walked into the store and Bart found his eyes taking in new sights from all around. There was aisle after aisle laid out before him.

Colors and smells assaulted him, bright advertisements and colorful organics, the smells of food and fruits and vegetables, and-did he smell flowers?

He looked to the right and saw a jungle of flowers wrapped from selling romantically and for planting in the ground. Past the flowers were vegetables laid out and stacked into pyramids, then against the wall more vegetables with sprinkler sets above them. He looked to his left and saw the rows of checkout areas and clerks, before the lines were more aisles, each labeled with numbers and general ideas of what they held.

"Hermano, come on." Bart saw Jaime ahead of him, already grabbing a cart.

"I'll push that!" Bart excitedly jumped at the opportunity.

Jaime raised his dark eyebrow but moved to the side as the auburn grabbed the cart eagerly.

"Alright, first is milk..." Jaime pulled out the list and pencil that he'd brought.

Jaime and Bart went down row and row of the aisles, Jaime calling out the names and brands of the desired products and Bart searching for and retrieving them. At first they had made a race of finding the product first, but since Jaime always won Bart complained saying he was cheating. When they passed the candy aisle without stopping Bart whined so insistently that Jaime had to make a deal with him that he'd buy him one (of his own money) but Bart would have to pay him back later. This seemed to please the auburn and they spent almost half an hour in that aisle alone going over what Jaime could afford and what was best. Finally Jaime got frustrated with all the choices and literally did eeny, meeny, miny, moe to pick the from their choices. It landed on Milk Duds and Bart was ecstatic.

Jaime actually found he didn't mind shopping for once, it was strange how company made the whole experience three times better. They would make fun of names of brands and just all around have fun. Jaime spent a whole aisle trying to teach Bart how to moonwalk, before giving up and teasing him that he sucks at it 'cause he's white to which Bart promptly responded, "Michael Jackson was white!" an outburst which earn a strange look from the woman and child in the same aisle. When Jaime and Bart got to the aisle where the mushroom cans were Bart picked up one brand of mushrooms that another woman only a few feet away had picked up and put in her basket and said, "I hear the FDA allows 20 maggots of any size per 100 grams of canned mushrooms."

"Seriously?"

"Mhm." Bart said and put the can back on the shelf. A few seconds later they saw the woman return her own can with a disgusted look on her face, Bart and Jaime managed to not burst out in laughter until they were out of her hearing.

When they reached the line Jaime had to tell Bart that he needed to put a separator between their groceries and the person before them. Bart thought this was brilliant and said so aloud. When Jaime paid with the money his mother had given him he found that they had some leftover. The grocery cart was filled up to the brim and heavy as Bart pushed it away from the checkout and towards the door.

"Huh?" Bart heard Jaime's voice behind him.

Bart looked back from his position ahead when he heard Jaime's confused voice. Jaime was looking down with a bewildered look on his face and Bart followed his eyes to find a toddler attached to his friend's leg.

"Papa." The little girl had tears in her eyes when Jaime looked down at her, "Donde esta mi papa?" her voice was trembling miserably as she asked where her dad was.

"Shhh, shhh" Jaime patted the top of her head soothingly as he squatted down to her level, "Vamos a encontrar tu papa." _(We're going to find your dad.)_

"Dude," Jaime looked up to see Bart looking at him, his eyebrows knitted together in worry, "What'd she say?"

"She lost her dad."

Bart's green eyes flickered between the girl and the cart, "Alright, we'll just have to find him then." he said with an easy smile, it was heavy to push around now but he didn't mind. He gave the little girl an easy smile. She didn't smile back but she did stop crying. He figured that given the situation that was pretty good.

Bart's heart swelled up with affection as he saw Jaime pick up the little girl and easily place her on his shoulders. The scene warmed his heart and he felt it squeeze when the girl looked around with wonder at the new view of the world around her. He adored the sight and tried to commit it to memory.

"Si ves a tu papa, nos dice." Jaime told her softly, his voice warm and kind. _(If you see your dad, tell us.)_

When they did spot the dad it was because he was so obviously frantic while talking to the Safeway employee that they walked right up to him.

"Papa!" the girl called from Jaime's shoulders.

The father spun around with frantic, searching eyes before they settled on his daughter. When he saw her his face instantly softened and a broad, relieved smile formed.

"Mi hija!" the tall, now relieved, latino man outstretched his thick hands to the girl and swiftly plucked her from Jaime's shoulders, "Gracias Dios." he held the girl protectively to his chest as he thanked God for his daughter being safe. They hugged each other for a moment before the man looked up to Jaime and Bart.

"Thank you for finding my daughter." He said with so much sincerity that both boys were touched to have been a part of their reunion.

"It was no problem," Bart replied easily, "We were glad to help."

"Yeah." Jaime agreed.

"Thank you." The father said again, "If there's anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask." and they could both tell he meant it.

The two boys nodded their heads and turned around, about to head for the exit, when something occurred to them.

"Uhh." Jaime turned back around to face the father and daughter, "There is something..." his face turned crimson at having to ask for help.

The father didn't look offended by the immediate cashing of his offer but instead smiled warmly.

.

.

.

"Thank you for the ride Mr. Martinez." Jaime said gratefully as he came back from the house with some money in his hands, "Here's some money for the gas." he offered it through the rolled down driver window.

Mr. Martinez, the father from Safeway, just shook his head and closed Jaime's hand around the bills, "I should thank you."

Jaime looked at the girl in the toddler seat in the backseat and looked back at Mr. Martinez, "Well thank you anyway, it really helped us a lot."

"I'm glad I could be of help." the latino man said as he took his car out of park, "Have a good day you two." he gave Bart, who was standing behind Jaime, a smile before driving off.

"Best. Morning. EVER." Bart declared as they stared at the van driving away.

.

.

.

Bart and Jaime went into the house and put away all the groceries that they'd bought, with Jaime having to instruct Bart where to put everything that didn't belong in the refrigerator.

Afterwards they decided to watch one more movie and while Jaime was making the popcorn Bart got a call;

"Hello?" Bart answered without checking caller ID.

Jaime could hear Bart's half of the conversation from the other room.

"Oh, hey...Yeah I'm still here...Well, we were about to start a movie...Okay...No I didn't...'Kay, bye."

Jaime walked into the living room with a bowl of freshly popped popcorn. He frowned slightly at Bart having to leave and at his own selfishness for wanting to keep the younger boy there longer. He was really starting to like hanging out with Bart.

"You leaving?" he asked with a forced smile for Bart.

"Sorry."

"No problem." Jaime thought for a second, "My mom will be home soon, she could probably drive you home." he offered, knowing that he would miss the next bus before he got there.

"Uh, actually my uncle is coming..."

"Yeah? Okay." Jaime rubbed at his neck, he wanted to know why it was Bart's uncle that was coming but didn't dare to say anything. He knew that there could be a lot of reasons and he didn't know if asking would overstep their still-forming boundaries.

A silence hung over them and clung to them tightly; seconds stringing out into long, awkward moments.

Bart rocked on his heels as he waited for his uncle to come. He had to say something...anything. This silence was too awkward. But before he could think of anything Jaime beat him to it.

"Hey," Jaime's voice shattered the awkward glass between them. He also had felt compelled to say something and so he said the first thing that came to mind, "Do you know a girl who's blonde and in a lot of sports?"

Bart raised a curious eyebrow, a girl?

"Uh..."

"She had a black headband." Jaime added, thinking he was too vague, and used his hands to gesture a headband onto his head.

Bart thought for a second before one person came to mind, "Cassie?" he thought maybe Jaime was talking about the sophomore in his english class.

"Cassie?"

"Maybe, what's it matter?" Bart asked with a curious tone.

"I just didn't catch her name when I met her." Jaime said simply.

"You don't-" there was a knocking on the door that cut off the rest of Bart's sentence. He was glad really, he wasn't sure if he wanted to ask if Jaime liked her or not.

"Welp," Bart made a popping sound on the 'p', "That's probably my folks. See you monday." then he made for the door quickly.

"See ya." Jaime raised his hand to say goodbye but Bart had already turned.

.

.

.

Tye shoved his free hand into the pocket of his worn out burnt-orange sweater, the other one holding his skateboard with enough strength to make his knuckles white. He huffed a frustrated breath as he took step after step away from the house that he was growing to hate. He loved his mom and wanted her happiness like any other kid, but he also wanted his own happiness-something he was getting deprived of every time Maurice showed his ugly mug. He hated him. It was dark outside, the sun had fallen behind the mountains an hour ago and Tye found himself blaming Maurice for that also. He knew his grandpa would be asleep by now but he couldn't stand to stay in that house with Maurice there. He wished he had Jaime there with him. Jaime was faithful and comforting. With Jaime being his only friend though, he found he relied too much on the other teen as it was. He felt the phone in his pocket and thumbed it, wondering what Jaime was doing and if he should call.

The rustle of a cat moving in the distance made Tye jump and drop his phone. He couldn't handle this, he hated the dark almost as much as he hated Maurice.

Jaime wrestled with his sheets when he heard the vibration of his phone. After some grunts of frustration he finally managed to reach a hand out of the mass of sheets to fumble blindly for the small device on his nightstand.

"Hello?" his voice was gravelly from being woken up, "Tye is that you?"

"Yeah." Tye's husky voice came over the phone, "I'm heading over to my grandpa's trailer..."

"Where are you?"

Tye looked around, "Spotted Eagle Drive."

"What do you want me to do?" Jaime looked around for his room, mentally mapping out where his shoes, pants, and shirt were.

"Just talk to me man." Tye wasn't far away from his grandpa's trailer park so he'd be there by the time Jaime got halfway there anyway.

"What do you want me to talk about?" Jaime sat back into his pillows.

"Anything. 'bout when we were little."

There was a pause that lasted a few seconds and made Tye worry. He looked around and wished that there were more street lamps.

"Jaime?"

"I'm here."

"Okay."

"How about when we first met?" Jaime suggested.

"That's fine." Tye agreed. They had met so young he didn't remember how they met so he was a little curious.

"Okay so I'm playing in my front yard with the dog we had back then,"

"I remember him."

"Yeah, cocoa."

"Sucky name for a boy dog."

"Gimme credit, I was young. Anyway, there I am playing when all of a sudden a huge shadow is cast over me. I looked up and your dad was staring down at me. He was the size of a bear with this huge scar on his face and I thought he was going to kill me.

"I was scared shitless thinking it was the end. Then he steps aside and behind him was some scrawny little boy shuffling his feet and looking at the ground."

"Hey, I wasn't scrawny." Tye said indignantly.

"You were scrawny. And your dad was a bear."

Tye hmph'ed and Jaime continued, "Anyway the guy looked down at me and says in that same husky voice you have, except bigger, 'This is my son. He wants to play with you.' Then he pushed you towards me and I didn't know what to do so I just nodded."

A pause, "There you have it. Cool story huh?"

"More like lame." Tye huffed but appreciated another memory of his late dad. It was becoming harder to remember back that far and he held each memory precious. He could just imagine his dad's gruff military posture and rough, husky voice as he told little Jaime that his son wanted to play with him. The thought brought a laugh bubbling up his throat.

"It's not funny hermano, I had nightmares for weeks about that guy."

"Why?" Tye asked after he controlled his laughter.

"He was HUGE. Grande! I thought he would kill me after we played in that ditch and you got a scraped knee."

"Is that why you were so worried then?" Tye asked as the forgotten memory resurfaced, "And I had thought it was cause you cared."

"Oh I cared hermano, but I was also scared."

"We've been friends ever since then haven't we?" Tye asked as he looked at the entrance to Happy Trails trailer park before entering.

"Yeah, hermano, yeah we have."

"Thanks Jaime. You've always been there for me."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll always be there when you need me, as your brother and as your friend. We're family."

Tye got choked up at that, but it wasn't until he saw his grandpa slightly alarmed that he realized he was crying.

* * *

**Remember that comments motivate me to update faster~ I don't think I'll continue this story unless I get some feedback, just so I know that it's okay enough to go on. So, please please please review and let me know that there's actually people reading. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4: Beso

**Disclaimer: still don't own.**

**Okay, so before you start reading I just wanted you all to know that I read each and every review and they are the reason that I keep writing and updating so quickly. And I've gotten a question about Bart and Jaime's ages in this. I know that in the show Bart is 13, but for the sake of this fanfic I distorted time and made him 15 while Jaime is 17. Bart is a sophomore and Jaime is a senior.**

* * *

**Chapter four:**

"Alright class we've watched a few videos and now we're going to start on recording." the teacher of Creative Communications said as the students got settled.  
"You're going to break off into groups and record a short story for the genre you get."  
Jaime groaned from his throat at the added work; he preferred watching movies.  
A freshman girl in the class raised her hand, "How many in a group?"  
The teacher did a quick count of the students, "Groups of four." the teacher decided and Jaime groaned again.  
"Hey," Bart whispered, "What's up Jaime?"  
Besides the fact that no one will want to be in the same group as me? Jaime wondered.  
"Nothing." he sighed and resigned himself to taking the extra kids that weren't fast enough to get in the groups they wanted.  
"Alright, decide on your groups." the teacher declared and students began to move all around, standing and shuffling to get their desired partners.  
Jaime just laid his head down and waited for the minutes to pass.  
"Hey, can I join you guys?" Jaime heard a voice next to him. Probably directed at someone else...  
"Sure!" came Bart's excited voice. Wait-that was for them?  
Jaime brought his head up quickly as he blurted out, "QUE?" someone had picked HIM? HIM? That *never* happened.  
Jaime looked at the red head with confusion.  
The kid looked Bart's grade. Under Jaime's confused stare he let out a nervous laugh and looked to Bart for help, "Is he okay?"  
"Him?" Bart easily said with a friendly smile, "Sure, he just didn't think he'd be picked."  
"Hermano!" Jaime blushed thoroughly, his attention turning to Bart.  
"What? It's true." Bart said quickly without dropping his smile.  
The other kid smiled too.  
"Can I join you guys?" another voice asked, but this one distinctly different in it's feminine appeal. Jaime looked over to see a beautiful raven haired girl. He recognized her, she was the junior Zatanna.  
"Su-sure!" Jaime said with a excited smile. He couldn't believe his luck. Half the guys in the school had a crush on her.  
"Jaime right?" she said with a smile as she stepped into their circle.  
"Yeah, and you're Zatanna." Jaime said back. She knew his name, she knew his name, sheknewhisname!  
Jaime was so stunned by the fact that a beautiful girl knew his name and was talking to him that he completely missed the darkening look on Bart's face as he watched the two.  
"And I'm Garfield, but my friends call me Gar." the redhead said with a straightening of his back and a proud point to his chest.  
Jaime chuckled and ruffled the redhead's hair, "Nice to meet you Gar." Gar swatted away his hand whining about his hair but his cheeks were beaming red and he was smiling shyly.  
Bart's own face was darkening as he receded into the shadows of the teams chatter.  
"Hey." Jaime nudged Bart and then leaned in and whispered, "No one's forgetting you, ese."

Bart barely managed to control a shiver as Jaime continued, this time so everyone could hear, "Introduce yourself."

Bart's ear was still tingling from Jaime's breath and the sound of his voice in his ear but Bart ignored it as he forced a carefree smile on his face, "I'm Bart. Nice to meetcha."

It wasn't long after that the teacher told the students to sit down in their groups while the assistant teacher went around the class with a hat to pull the random genre from.

Jaime's group was closest and therefore first. As the assistant teacher came up everyone looked at one another before Zatanna shrugged and reached into the hat. A smile formed instantly on Zatanna's lips as she read the small slip of paper.  
"What is it?" Gar asked excitedly.

Zatanna turned the paper so that the rest could read. Gar was the most ecstatic at the genre out of the males.

"Horror! Sweet!" he did a fist pump and went to high-five Zatanna who seemed as pleased.

"So?" she began, "What are we going to do it about?" she asked the group with an eager smile. The eyes of Gar and Zatanna automatically shifted to Jaime, who under the concentrated stare became flustered.

"Wh-what?" he asked.

"I don't know." Zatanna said, "You just seem-"

"Like the leader!" Gar finished and Zatanna nodded.

Jaime was shocked, Me? A leader?

Jaime turned to Bart who was also looking at him, though his eyes lacked the enthusiasm that the other's possessed.

"What do you think ese?"

"Uhh..." Bart averted his eyes, "I've never seen a horror movie before so..." his voice trailed off.

"Really?" All kids asked, which made Bart's face blush a crimson up to his roots.

"I've probably watched every good one ever made." Zatanna commented in wonder at the thought of a person who had never seen a horror movie.

"I've seen all the old, cheesy ones and some of the newer ones." Gar commented, a comment that apparently went over well with Zatanna and deserved another high-five.

Jaime rubbed his neck, "I've only seen one myself actually..." That one gave Bart a little comfort.

"Which one?" Zatanna asked.

"Paranormal activity." Jaime mumbled. Zatanna and Gar bleh'ed and made disgusted faces, "That is *not* a horror movie" Gar protested.

"Yeah. You two need to do some serious horror movie research before we start this." Zatanna declared, "I'll bring my best movie collection tomorrow and your homework is to watch them all before Friday."

She spoke in a way that gave no room for argument or objection. The boys realized that they didn't really have a hope of getting out of it so they decided to make it easy on themselves and agree.

.

.

.

"I'll see you later Jaime!" Zatanna waved goodbye as they exited the class.

"See ya." Gar said to both Bart and Jaime.

Jaime raised his hand and waved them both goodbye, meanwhile the auburn beside him was pouting silently; a very unusual thing for him.

Once the others were gone and only Bart and Jaime were left Jaime stopped, Bart stopped also when Jaime did and looked at the Latino with confusion.

"Are you okay ese?" Jaime scrunched his eyebrows together in worry, wondering if it was anything he had done. Jaime had a unconscious habit of holding everything to himself and being self-blaming.

"No, it's fine, it's all good." Bart said quickly and smiled, fakely.

Jaime didn't buy it though, and Bart trying to hide it only added to his unease, "You didn't seem too happy that we got horror." he tried.

"Yeah well..." Bart trailed off. He couldn't tell Jaime the real reason he didn't like horror movies, it was so not manly.

"Mm?"

"Nothing." then Bart blushed and quickly turned around and stalked off, hoping Jaime hadn't seen the blush. Jaime wanted to follow him and coax the answer out of him but decided that he'd get it from him later. Jaime also mentally noted that Bart seemed too embarrassed to tell him.

.

.

.

The next day Zatanna brought the movies like she had promised; a whole brown paper grocery bagful of them. Gar had also brought one that he said was his favorite and a great starter, Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Jaime was a little overwhelmed by the number of DVDs and videos that had been dropped on his lap.

"We can't start until you get through this whole bag." Zatanna said with what Jaime thought might have been the most sinister look he'd ever seen.

Dios mio.

A whimper passed his lips unbeknownst to him. The smile widened and he could have sworn he saw her mouth 'cariño'. He blinked his eyes because that couldn't have been right and he must have read that wrong.

That class period while the other groups were coming up with a plotline Zatanna and Gar were telling which movies it was best to start with and which ones are the best and stuff like that.

Jaime started only half-listening when Gar and Zatanna began talking to one other more than him. Bart seemed in a better mood but there was still something off that Jaime couldn't put his finger on. Bart was smiling and laughing and talking like normal but something seemed off still.

.

.

.

"Remember to watch the movies guys!" Zatanna called as she left the class.

"Watch my movie first!" Gar smiled and gave the two thumbs-ups.

"Yeah, we will." Jaime laughed and just managed to ruffle Gar's hair as he passed him. Gar let out an indignant squawk but smiled almost instantly afterwards, obviously taking it with good humor.

"So..." It was Jaime and Bart left again, "We should get started on these-" Jaime lifted the paper bag up, "-soon. Can you come over tonight?"

Bart shuffled his feet, looking nervous.

"Uh...would I spend the night?" He asked in hope and dread.

"If you want." Jaime answered passively.

"I-I do." Bart blurted out and instantly felt like kicking himself. How could he be so uncool? He even stuttered!

"Okay, cool. I gotta call my mom and tell her that it's dinner for four then."

"Yeah, me too." Bart fumbled for his pocket.

"Follow me while you call, we don't want to miss the bus." Jaime urged him and sped up his pace as he also pulled out his phone.

"But I thought you rode your skateboard home." Bart interjected.

"I do hermano, but I can't exactly do that with these," he lifted the bag again, "and with you running after me."

"O-oh." Duh.

.

.

.

"I'm home mom." Jaime called into the house as he entered.

"Welcome home." came the expected answer.

"Is Milagro home?"

"She's next door."

"Okay."

"Do you want something to eat during the movie watching?" It was then that Bart registered she was talking from the kitchen.

"I have Chicken Whizees in my room." Jaime responded as they started up the stairs.

"What are Chicken Whizees?" Bart scrunched his eyebrows together.

"You'll see hermano." Jaime chuckled.

Chicken Whizees, Bart realized, were like sex to his taste buds. They were his new addiction and he found himself eating the whole bag by himself, but Jaime being the kind, gentleman he was just smiled and produced another bag every time he finished his.

Bart was comfortably shoulder to shoulder as they watched Gar's movie, it was easy and didn't really have any scary parts. It was more comical than scary actually and Bart had to make a mental note to pat Gar on the back for the good choice.

Once that movie was over it was just barely starting to be nightfall; the mountains in the distance were a purplish-black haze and he could see the brightest stars begin to shine. Bart looked out the window beside Jaime's bed at this scene as Jaime got up to put the movie back in its' case.

"I'll be back in a minute with dinner, okay?" he said, Bart nodded, and then, like the good host he was, he left to feed his guest.

Bart looked around Jaime's room then, at the various posters and pictures tacked to the wall. Even the lamp and pencil holder on his desk. The room was Jaime's and he was in it. He looked down at the mute green sheets and comforter he was laying on, and the multiple pillows that had propped him and Jaime up. It was all Jaime's and he was invited into his house, room, and bed. He'd never had a best friend before but Jaime was definitely that to him. He smiled. It felt good, heck, it felt *crash.*

"I'm back." Jaime announced and entered the room with two plates with burritos on it, one was piled up high and Bart suspected that was his.

"I hope you like spicy food." Jaime grinned wickedly and Bart returned it.

"Bring it." he challenged.

.

.

.

The next movie they watched was less than crash, it scared the bejeebers out of Bart and Jaime was tense but didn't flinch or jump whenever a scary part came like Bart did.

"OH MY GOD!" Bart screamed when a bulge violently began to erupt from a character's torso. He tucked his head into the nearest safe place from the view and tried to squeeze the view out of his eyes.

"Sshhh," He felt a hand smooth through his hair, "There, there hermanito, when it gets scary just remind yourself that it's not real and it's just actors and special effects."

Bart nodded his head and realized he had burrowed himself into Jaime's chest in his panic. His face heated and he wondered if he should pull away, but Jaime was running his hands through his hair and it felt *so* good to be selfish for once. Oh gawd, and he spelled so good. Bart burrowed his nose in deeper, trying to catch the uniquely Jaime smell. He smelled like a cactus flower blooming in the desert and rain and sunshine and something uniquely Jaime.  
He wanted to ask what detergent Jaime used so maybe he could use the same but that would require talking and less smelling.  
Jaime nudged Bart's chest with his shoulder and Bart looked up into those soft brown orbs.  
"You're missing the movie." Jaime whispered and Bart nodded quickly and pulled away, half because he couldn't explain staying there and half to hide the shiver that Jaime's whispers brought.  
He was eternally grateful that it was dark in the small bedroom because he was pretty sure that a dusky pink flush coated his cheeks.  
Time passed and the movies following were no better; in almost every one of them all but the main character died cruel, gruesome, and/or eerie deaths. By midnight both boys were considerably shaken with gruesome nightmares displayed before them one after the other.  
Bart had taken up permanent residence in Jaime's shoulder and felt no shame for it or even flutters-he was too busy blocking the sounds and images of the movie. Jaime watched the movies dutifully, looking completely unphased to all  
others except for the disgusted faces he sometimes made; but Bart realized from his spot on his shoulder that it was even affecting the handsome Latino. He could feel Jaime's muscles tense whenever a scary part occurred, his whole body becoming ridge with holding back. When it came to start on Stephen King, even Jaime was flinching visibly. The master of tension building made his perfect execution each time, stealing a flinch every chance he saw.

"I hate horror movies." Bart whimpered from under the covers, where he had taken sanctuary, "Only bad things happen in them."

Something about that sentence clicked with something that Jaime had mentally noted and he looked at Bart, or at least the comforter that he was under, and smiled with a caring warmth of someone who had found a cute soft spot.

"You're a sucker for happy endings." Jaime made the statement, voice soft and the opposite of the mock that Bart had thought would come with such a statement.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, who doesn't like a happy ending?" He kept his place under the comforter, thankful for its cover from Jaime's addictive eyes.

"Nadie, hermano, nadie." Jaime returned his eyes to the screen just in time to flinch again, "Ayyy."

.

.

.

Falling asleep that night felt impossible. Bart had visions of monsters and murderers and ghosts flashing behind his eyelids. He felt ghosts in every dark corner of the room and every sound was personified as a monster scratching at the walls, making it impossible for him to close his eyes without wanting to open them instantly and turn the lights on. Jaime had watched all the movies with him but was peacefully laying there, breathing audibly in and out in a steady pace. With a frustrated groaned Bart gave up on the idea of sleep and rolled over, now facing Jaime's side profile. The sight of Jaime gave him some comfort in knowing he wasn't alone so he stared at the older teen as he breathed in and out in a peaceful lullaby of sleep. Jaime's intoxicatingly addictive smell wrapped around him and he breathed it in greedily. Jaime's features in the dim lighting and soft glow of the moon beams drifting through the window were enchanting. Bart inched closer and felt the heat that the other gave off. The other boy was like a heater and Bart never wanted to go back to a cold bed again. Jaime's presence was relaxing and put Bart's mind at ease. He found himself matching the other boy's breaths, slowly dropping into his own dreams, all nightmares chased away by the vision and presence of Jaime. He knew he was in trouble. He was falling desperately and quickly.

.

.

.

All of a sudden it was morning and he was awake with that small thrill that one gets when they realize they have a crush.

He looked over and found Jaime still sleeping deeply, his mouth was slightly open and the blanket was half kicked off of him. Bart smiled at the scene. So that's what Jaime looked like when he woke up, he pondered. It was cute he concluded.

Bart looked at the door and wondered if he could get out without waking the sleeping teen. He figured he'd give it a try and with slow and cautious movements he went to the end of the bed and climbed off. Once free he headed for the door and opened it in a way to make sure that it didn't disturb the owner of the room.

"Hello Bart." Jaime's mom said before she could have possibly seen him.

Bart entered the kitchen, "How did you know it was me?" he asked in wonder, blinking a few times.

"Jaime never wakes up on his own." she said with a motherly, fond smile, "Not this early."

Bart smiled bashfully. Jaime's mom motioned for him to take a seat and he did so, not one to argue with his elders-or food.

"I'd better go wake up Jaime." she said as Bart took the plate of scrambled eggs with a grateful smile.

"I'll do it!" he volunteered and shot up from his seat, but he stopped in his steps at the doorway, "How do you usually wake him up?"

"I give him un beso." she said with a grin to him, "but you can just shake him."

Beso? Bart figured from the context that it was something like a hit or something.

Bart scrunched his eyebrows together before dismissing what he didn't understand and heading up the stairs. He passed Milagro on his way up and she gave him a grin as she passed.

"Take the blanket. That's the most effective." she advised.

Bart nodded and continued.

When he entered Jaime's room he didn't bother being silent since he was going to wake him up anyway.

He went up to the side of the bed and took Jaime's mom's advice first. Jaime mumbled when his shoulder was shaken but still didn't open his eyes. Bart shook a little harder and got broken Spanish.

Bart stepped back and pursed his lips as he stared at Jaime, who had rolled onto his stomach to escape him and in doing so his blanket was now twisted around his knees and ankles. Bart decided that maybe Milagro's advice would work, so he grabbed the green fabric and with a powerful pull from his whole body he robbed Jaime of the blankets. Jaime's reaction to that was more broken Spanish and to scrunch his legs in.

"Wow." Bart found himself admiring Jaime's determination to remain unconscious. The other teen had mastered deep sleeping to an art.

Well, that was all the advise that he'd been given and Jaime was still asleep. Guess it was time to wake him up him own way...but just how to do it?

"Jaime..." Bart plopped down at the end of the bed, "I don't know how to wake you up without making you angry." he confessed to the comatose teen.

Bart thought about it but all his idea's would make Jaime sore with him; wet-willy, splashing water on him, banging pots and pans.

Jaime let out a groan and Bart heard him shifting behind him, then an arm wound around him and pulled him down. The arm then turned into dead weight. Bart's heart stopped and then went into cardiac arrest.

"Milagro..." Jaime mumbled, "Basta ya." his lips were barely a centimeter from Bart's ear and his hot breath and gravelly voice sent shivers down Bart's spine.

Bart felt his whole face heat up and knew he was bright red. Thinkthinkthink! he chanted inside his head, whatwasitJaime'smomsaidtodo?

"un..." what was the word? "Peso..." No no it was something else.

"Beso!" Bart remembered and almost shouted in his epiphany.

Argh, but what does that mean exactly?! he didn't even care, "Jaime! If you don't wake up I'll give you un beso!" he said in his most threatening voice, managing to sound convincing despite his trapped position.

Jaime's eyes snapped open with surprise, maybe at it being Bart in his arms and not Milagro or maybe it was a reaction to Bart's shout, but either way he let out a shocked squawk and jumped back from Bart.

"Ay!" he hit his head on the wall, "Bart!" he said more out of shock than anything, "What did you just say?" Jaime's face was beat red and Bart had a sudden fear that beso had nothing to do with hitting someone.

"Un beso..." he said with trepidation, waiting for the translation that he knew was to come.

Jaime's face managed to redden even more, something that was impressive to accomplish.

"Th-that's-do you-Dios mio." he was flustered and that made Bart even more nervous. Darn it, what did it mean? What had he said?

"What?" he urged.

"That means-" his face looked like all the blood in his body had rushed up there, "-Ki-kiss."

Now it was Bart's turn to become beat red. If he had been eating he would have choked, as it was he managed to choke on air. He wanted to hide under a rock and stay there until a year passed. His heart was having another race around in his torso and he felt like he was going to die of embarrassment.

"I-I didn't know what it meant." he squeaked when his coughs had been reduced to a minimum.

"Yo se-I know. Just-where did you learn that?" Jaime's face was still overheated and red but it was slowly, very slowly, returning to its natural color.

"Your mom said she gives you it! I thought it meant to hit or something!" Bart said defensively.

"It-it's fine." Jaime said quickly, "It was just a translation mistake. I was just shocked that's all." some of the color returned.

"Ye-yeah." Bart hastily agreed.

Jaime rubbed his hand over his face, he needed a shower; he wasn't awake enough to deal with this.

"I'm going to take a shower." he said and Bart moved off the bed to let him off, "If you want a change of clothes help yourself. You can return them later." he offered and saw Bart nod before he walked out, leaving the auburn to do as he saw fit.

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**Remember to review and keep your favorite author inspired!**


	5. Chapter 5: Don't worry about me

**Disclaimer: still don't own. Because if I did then there would be a lot more Jaime and Bart screen time.**

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

Seeing Bart in his clothes was odd. The older teen's pants sagged too much on Bart so he had to wear his own, which was just fine with the auburn. For shirts Bart had chosen the one that Jaime had gotten from his aunt last birthday, it had a map of the US and said "every one's too busy."  
Jaime didn't get it so he never wore it except in the house when he was lazing about, just another irony of life.  
Looking at Bart in it he noticed that the shirt was obviously too big for the younger teen, having been made for a slightly taller and broader person. It was probably the best fit they could find without resorting to Milagro's clothes though.  
"I'll drive you two to school." Jaime's mom said when the two boys finished breakfast.  
"Thanks mom." Jaime cleaned both their plates and went to the front door where their backpacks laid since yesterday.

.

.

.

Jaime used his free period that day to work ahead of the rest of his class because he knew that Bart would be over again to finish the other half of the movies.  
When he was sure that he was a day or more ahead he packed up his stuff and began to roam the halls waiting for fourth period to begin.  
In AP bio Jaime worked on the class computer lab with his partner-Bart of course. Bart was incredibly advance with computers so Jaime let him do most of the computer work while he scanned through the AP Bio textbook to find answers and explanations.  
When they were exiting the class Jaime decided to take a personal risk.  
"Hey," he said as Bart was starting to break away. Bart stopped and looked back at him, bright green eyes looking at Jaime and waiting for him to say something to follow-up his 'hey'. Did Bart even want to eat with him? Sure they were friends but what if he had other friends that he wanted to hang out with and Jaime was just being selfish or clingy or whatever?  
"Uhmm," Jaime rubbed at his neck unconsciously, "Where do you go during lunch?" he went with the safe question.  
"Usually the library." Bart answered with a raised eyebrow, his heart fluttering just a little faster.  
"Well, you could eat with me and Tye, ya know-if you want. We eat over behind the math classes." Jaime offered with a bashful smile.  
His offer paid off and he instantly saw the younger teen's eyes light up, "Sure!" his words mushed together, "Justletmegetmylunchfromthesc hool. IhavetobuyittodaysinceIdidn'tbringone."  
"Uh," Jaime was pretty sure he only caught half of that, "Sure."  
"Crash." Bart said and ran off in a flash, leaving Jaime to fondly stare after him with a smile unconsciously slipping on.

"So you invited that sophomore from before to eat with us?" Tye clarified after Jaime informed him that Bart was joining them.  
"Si."  
"And what's his name?" Tye's voice was curious and non-judgmental.  
"Bart."  
Tye nodded, "So where is he?" he questioned, apparently accepting the new addition.  
"He had to get lunch. He'll be here soon." Jaime looked around as if expecting him to show up right then. Tye had started to eat lunch but Jaime was waiting until Bart showed up.

When lunch break was half over Bart still hadn't showed up.

"Does he know where we are?"  
"Yeah," Jaime hesitated, "he should have been here by now..." Jaime's eyebrows were knit together as he wondered why Bart wasn't with them, worrying about what reasons could be behind the younger teen's delay.  
"Maybe it's a long line..." Tye offered.  
"Yeah." Jaime looked over to the direction where the school gym and cafeteria were, "Maybe..." he weakly agreed.  
When only five minutes were left Jaime decided that he'd start looking for him.  
"Maybe he got lost." he explained as he got up.  
"Mmm," Tye hummed, finding that unlikely, "Maybe he changed his mind."  
"No way hermano, Bart wouldn't do that."  
"If you say so." Tye consented.  
"He wouldn't." Jaime said firmly.  
But in the end he didn't find him. Jaime searched the cafeteria first and he wasn't there, then he crossed the school over to the library and searched column by column without finding Bart. The bell rang before he could search anywhere else and he ended up going to fifth period with a less than focused mind. Jaime spent fifth and sixth repeating the same question in his head over and over again. He couldn't figure out why in the world Bart hadn't come after he said that he would. The English teacher, Mr. Smith, actually noticed he wasn't listening and warned Jaime. After that he had to pay attention or get detention. His questions were pushed to the back of his mind only to reemerge to the forefront later when seventh period came.

.

.

.

When seventh period came, it came with a huge relief and confusion. He was relieved that Bart was there but he was confused why he hadn't showed up earlier.

Jaime wasn't the most practiced in subtlety so when Bart sat next to him and said "Hey." the first thing that came out of his mouth was the question that had bugged him all of fifth and sixth period.

"Where were you ese?"

Bart looked slightly taken aback at the blunt confrontation. He averted his green eyes slowly, his words drew out with hesitation, "I was..."  
He was about to tell him but then thought better. He didn't want to push his burdens on Jaime. Jaime had his own already without Bart adding to them. A nagging in the back of his mind told him that he also didn't want to take even the smallest gamble of Jaime looking at him and agreeing with the other students. No, he thought, he could definitely handle this without Jaime's help. He was perfectly capable of handling it.  
So, he lied.  
"I, uh, forgot. You know how I am. I just kinda went to the library out of habit and forgot. Sorry, I promise to be there next time, okay?" Bart felt horrible. He felt like the worst liar ever, but he forced a smile for Jaime. His usual persona was easy to slip into and he kept his face from betraying his little spike of self-hatred, which he quickly smothered. Bart was determined to handle his own problems. I _am_ strong, he tried to convince himself.

Jaime scrunched his eyebrows together. That...he had searched the library, ALL of the library. There was no way that Bart had been there. So why was he lying to him? Jaime felt a painful squeeze to his heart that one got when they knew someone was lying to them and didn't know why. Bart had just lied to him, he had ditched him and he had lied to him. Jaime mentally shook his head, the pain short-lived; no, there had to be a reason that he did that. He knew Bart, he saw the look on his face when he was invited. He wanted to go-so why didn't he? He had to be understanding.

"Uh...sure ese." Jaime felt his head turn with the infinite answers. He needed to figure it out...and so he would.

Their thought-filled silence was interrupted by the sound of someone entering their circle.  
"Hey." Zatanna greeted cheerfully as she took the other seat next to Jaime.  
"Hey." Jaime and Bart greeted back in unison, Bart's response a little less enthusiastic since he didn't particularly like the raven haired beauty.  
"So what did you think of the movies?" she asked, her cerulean orbs pointed directly at Jaime.  
"Well..." Jaime rubbed at his neck.  
"We liked The Creature from the Black Lagoon." Bart offered.  
"Sweet!" Gar exclaimed as he came over and took the free seat next to Bart. Bart and Gar exchanged a high-five as greeting and compliments to their shared tastes.  
Zatanna crossed her arms, "What about my movies?" She asked with a light huff of a pout.  
"They were..." Jaime searched for a word to describe all the horrible things he had seen happen to the main characters, "Uh, scary." he finished lamely.  
That was apparently enough though, because Jaime saw a victorious smile pull on Zatanna's lips upon hearing his 'praise', "I know right? I love those. So which did you see?" her smile became a grin as she talked. The class began and they slipped into easy conversation.  
Jaime tried to remember all the titles of the movies that they'd seen. When he couldn't remember the title he described the plot and Zatanna would tell him. While he was talking to Zatanna and rehashing over which parts were the scariest that they could maybe use in their own short movie Bart was talking to Gar. Bart gave kudos to the redhead for giving them the only movie they had actually liked. They got started talking about cheesy old horror movies and all the faults and bad special effects in them that they loved. Jaime and Bart didn't talk anymore that period, each respectively occupied with their other teammates. In the class period Jaime was able to bury any doubts about Bart, replacing them with worry for him. Bart, however, was becoming worried about how to keep his issues away from Jaime while trying to get closer to him at the same time. He decided that to avoid lunch-mishaps he would go to his locker during his third period office working and after school only.

.

.

.

"Sooo," Bart drawled as he followed the flow of the students leaving the class, "Jaime," he said to get the other teen to look at him, when he did Bart felt his heart flutter with a fluffy nervousness, "Am I going to come over tonight to finish them?"

"Of course." Jaime smiled then it dissipated, "But should we go over to your house tonight? I doubt your parents want you sleeping over two nights in a row."

"My grandparents don't mind." Bart replied comfortably, "They think it's great that I have a friend."

Jaime smiled, "Alright then, better call them." they pulled out their phone's and started the walk for the school bus.

.

.

.

"He volvido." Jaime called as they entered. _(I have returned home.)_  
"Estoy en la cocina." His mom returned. _(I'm in the kitchen.)_

"Dude, what are you saying?" Bart looked to Jaime for a translation.

"My mom's in the kitchen-la cocina." he explained. Bart nodded and stored the information for possible future use. Jaime dropped his backpack in the hallway and Bart followed the gesture.

"Is that Bart with you?" Milagro asked, her voice coming from the kitchen also.

"Yeah," Jaime responded and started to head for the kitchen, Bart following closely beside him.

"I've never heard your sister speak Spanish." Bart observed.

Jaime sighed and rolled his eyes, "Some kid that she liked said Spanish sounds weird, she came home crying that day and she vowed she'd never speak Spanish again. So now she's having some rebellious stage where she thinks it uncool to speak Spanish. I wanted to beat that kid up, I still do." Jaime's face was dark with anger as he said that last sentence. Bart had never seen Jaime look angry and he was glad that the other boy was his friend because he looked like he could spit acid at that moment.

"Huh." Bart was struck with an idea, "Hey..." his tone switched to a whisper and he grabbed Jaime's shoulder to stop him and have them face each other, "I think I have an idea to fix that..."

"Yeah?" Jaime leaned in, the darkness gone easily, "What is it?" his soft orbs were cutely bewildered now.

"Just watch me." Bart smiled and entered the kitchen. Jaime raised an eyebrow and followed a moment after.

"Ya know Jaime, you have got to teach me some Spanish one of these days." he commented just as they were entering the kitchen. Ah, Jaime thought as he understood at once what Bart's "plan" was.

Milagro looked up from the counter where she was helping her mom make cookies, "Why would you want to do that?" She asked, obviously intrigued.

"Are you kidding?" Bart grinned at her, only turning his eyes to her after she had spoke. He made a big gesture with his arms, "Spanish is totally sweet! It sounds so crash when the girls in our class speak Spanish together!"

Milagro raised an doubtful eyebrow but seemed engrossed in Bart's comments so he continued with as much energy, "Spanish is a romance language!" he said like it was the most obvious thing ever, "It sounds like a song even when arguing! The flow sounds so much smoother than English too." a pause for effect before he added with a wiggle of his eyebrows, "It sounds seductive too."

Milagro was obviously turning this new information around in her head. Meanwhile Jaime and his mom listened to the one-sided conversation with hopeful hearts, not able to comment without the chance of being discovered. There was a long pause to the two older family members that lasted centuries as they tried to subtly listen. Jaime's mom had unknowingly stopped mixing the dough in her concentration.

The anxious pause was broken by Milagro's hesitant and uncertain, "Really?"

Jaime and his mom let out a breath they didn't know they'd been holding and his mom started to mix again.

"Totally!" Bart responded enthusiastically, "You're so lucky!" he even added. Milagro seemed stunned by this but Bart was smooth as he said to Jaime, "So, what did la cocina mean?" Jaime was confused now, he'd just told Bart that and he knew that Bart couldn't have forgotten it already. He was about to answer when a voice cut in, "The kitchen." Milagro answered.

Bart grinned with a quick wink to Jaime, "Crash! I'll totally remember that."

"Bart, would you like us to bring up some cookies when they're done?" Jaime's mom asked happily.

"Si!" Bart answered.

Jaime chuckled, "We'd better get started on those movies I guess. There's still a lot left."

"Okay, have fun." Jaime's mom said.

Bart laughed nervously before following Jaime out the kitchen and mumbling under his breath, "I doubt it..."

"Hey," Jaime said as they were going up the stairs, "Did you really mean what you said earlier?"

"About?"

"About Spanish, ya know, about it sounding seductive and all that." Jaime felt his heart beat speed up as he replied.

"'Course." he responded and Jaime felt a content smile slip onto his lips.

.

.

.

"You actually going to watch the movies today or will you be taking your spot under the covers?" Jaime teased as they entered the bedroom.

Bart let out a groan, "Do we really have to watch all these? I mean, all the one's we watched yesterday should be enough."

Jaime chuckled, "Don't worry _hermano_." he stretched the word seductively, an obvious teasing jab at Bart, "I'll watch the movies tomorrow."

Bart felt his face pinch in confusion, "Wha, what?"

He was answered with Jaime grinning widely as he pulled out, _Some Like it Hot_, _I was a Mail Order Bride_, _Pillow Talk_, _The Wizard of Oz_, _The Maltese Falcon_, _Singin' in the Rain_, _Mary Poppins_, _My Fair Lady_, and _Top o' the Morning_.

"Dude, I-" Bart tried to squash the part of him that was hoping the Latino's gesture meant he liked him back. After all, just because he'd developed this crush didn't mean he had to go around interpreting every little thing Jaime did as hidden signs of encouragement. He wasn't little anymore, he could handle an unrequited crush.

"Don't worry hermano, I know you don't like scary movies." Jaime said innocently unaware of Bart's thought track.

"Thanks." he grinned.

"De nada." Jaime said as he slipped in _Top o' the Morning_ first. The two teens shared the bed shoulder to shoulder, comfortably leaning against one another.

"Bing Crosby's in this one" he said as the movie began.

"Which one is he?"

Jaime waited for him to show up on the screen to point him out, "Him, the one talking now."

"Is he a big star?"

"He used to be, I'm not sure if he is now. At Christmas time my mom plays his Christmas songs all the time."

In each movie Jaime would offer whatever info he had on the cast or places that the movies were shot. He had to rewind the movie twice when Bart didn't see the suicide that had accidentally been recorded in the background of _The Wizard of Oz_.

"Dude, that's totally creepy!" Bart said when he finally saw it, he had to see it himself since he didn't believe Jaime when he told him, "Why didn't they take that out?" he demanded incredulously.

"I guess they didn't notice until it was too late." Jaime responded, "It's not in the newer ones." he offered.

Milagro came later with two cans of soda and a plate of cookies. It looked like they had stacked almost half of the cookies they made onto the plate, apparently they had taken Bart's appetite into account. When Bart said "Thank you." she replied "De nada." with a small smile. After she had walked out Jaime gave Bart a high-five, "Genius!" he declared and Bart smiled victoriously under the praise.

.

.

.

Bart had never laughed as hard as he had when watching those movies with Jaime. They commented together and made one another laugh harder and when a funny part came on they laugher together.

Halfway through the Maltese Falcon Jaime snatched Bart's soda right from his hands. Bart let out a defensive squawk and tried to grab it back, to which Jaime laughed and quickly jerked it out of reach-but it was Bart who was laughing a second later when the contents of the can came splashing onto Jaime's shirt and collarbone. Jaime let out a shocked "Ay!" and uselessly tried to dodge the brown liquid, but it hit his black T-shirt covered chest with perfect accuracy.

"Man..." Jaime moaned and scrunched his face with chagrin. Bart, in the mean time, had burst out into hysterics at the justice of it.

"Serves you right!" he choked between uncontrollable laughter.

"Callate." he commanded with pinkening cheeks but the protest only seemed to encourage Bart's laughter.

Jaime mumbled in Spanish and stood up with indignation. He quickly removed the offending garment, wiping the dry parts on his stomach to dry off where it had soaked through, and walked to his dresser to get a new shirt.

Bart's laughter stopped dead as he saw Jaime strip in front of him. He averted his eyes to the screen and instantly regretted it because he didn't have the courage to look back over. Stupid stupid stupid! Why'd you look away?! He scolded himself.

He heard Jaime sigh from the dresser and glanced over, still shirtless. Bart kept his eyes there and his gaze slowly scrolled down the tan skin of Jaime's back. He watched the muscles move with Jaime's arms. He let his eyes dance across the smooth, tan skin and found himself wondering what it felt like to touch it. His eyes moved to the older teen's figure, it was sturdy and his shoulders were broader than his own. He felt a small spike of jealousy at the beautiful tone of Jaime's skin and his naturally attractive bone structure.

Another sigh and Bart moved his eyes up to the back of Jaime's head, then his bare neck, a very _tempting_ bare neck.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." Jaime mumbled and reached into his dresser to pull out a white tank top. He slipped it on easily and turned back towards Bart, "What'd I miss?" he walked over to the other teen and reclaimed his seat next to him. Bart now was very aware of their shoulder's. Jaime's bare shoulder against his sleeved one had a warmer feeling, or maybe it was just Bart's imagination.

"Uh..." Bart looked over to the screen quickly, "Not much..." except that someone he didn't recognize had a gun pointed at the main character and he had no clue why because he'd been too busy staring at his shirtless friend.

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.

.

Bart was accepted to the Reyes dinner table very warmly. He felt important as he listened and was included in the conversation. He learned that Milagro was an important player in soccer, though he couldn't say what position because he never watched sports. He learned that Jaime's mom was a manager in an expensive hotel and that she got up at 6am most days. Bart also learned that Jaime being in upper level classes was a first and that he had almost changed them-Bart was eternally grateful that the older teen had stayed in his given classes, as was his mother apparently. To think he'd almost not had Jaime in his life was a depressing thought and made him realize how much Jaime had become to him. When the conversation had slowed down Jaime rose with his plate and headed for the kitchen, an action that Bart copied.

"Hey, you're families pretty cool." Bart said as he passed his plate to Jaime's outstretched hand.

"Yeah," Jaime turned the plate around under the running water, "they are. I mean we fight and stuff like every other family but we always smooth it over afterwards."

Bart smiled, "I know what you mean. My parents were totally crash like that."

Jaime raised an eyebrow, that was the first time Bart had ever mentioned his parents. Jaime was so surprised by the sudden mention of them that he didn't notice the past pretense. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, I mean before they died we used to always eat together and hang out on Sundays watching old movies."

"O-oh." Jaime suddenly felt his stomach drop and his heart beat faster. He didn't know what to say to circumstances like this, "I'm sorry man..." Dios mio, Jaime mentally cursed himself, that was so _lame_.

"Thanks." Jaime glanced from the dishes to Bart and saw a soft, sad smile on his face, "I miss them but, ya know, I'm learning to deal with it. My grandparents and uncle really help; they're always there if I need to talk but, I don't know, it's just kind of uncomfortable around them too. I like going to school because it's kind of a relief to have people not coddle me."

Jaime's heart went out to the young boy standing beside him. Right then Bart looked so fragile and like a lost little boy looking for a thread to hold onto.

"My dad died when I was young..." Jaime found the words forming without his conscious decision, "He was in the marines and got killed by some explosive flat. I remember that it was really tough watching my mom breakdown and cry herself to sleep. It was long ago so I don't remember it all but..." his words faded.

"I'm sorry." Bart echoed his earlier brilliance.

"It's fine. I'm used to it. I'm sure you've heard this but it _does_ get better as time goes on. You'll still feel their absence but it won't hurt as bad." He offered a smile to comfort Bart, in which Bart returned, if a big shakily.

"Sooo," he drawled, trying to easy the tension that had built, "I guess this is our heart to heart?"

Jaime gave a humored breath, "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Any other skeletons in the closet I should know about?" Bart attempted lightly.

It worked because Jaime chuckled, "Nada hermano. What about you?"

Other that me finding out that I'm attracted to you in a non-hermano way?

"None."

"So, less touchy topics," Jaime mused as he finished the dishes and dried his hands, "Favorite foods?"

Bart grinned, "Now you're talking my language her-man-oh."

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.

.

"One more!" Bart whined as Jaime pulled out their last movie. Jaime responded with a yawn as he rubbed at his eyes which had been staring at a TV for too many hours in a row.

"It's bed time hermano." he whined back, his own whine heavy with sleep.

"The night is young!" Bart protested as Jaime ignored him and trudged to the bed.

"The night is over ese and all I want to do is get some sleep." Jaime lifted the sheets and crawled into the bed beside Bart.

"But-"

"No but's Bart. Sleepy time." Jaime said weakly as he ruffled the top of Bart's head. His arm fell limp; apparently he had slipped into sleep rather quickly tonight. Bart sighed and felt his breath bounce off Jaime's wrist and back into his face. Bart carefully removed the older teen's hand from the top of his head and placed it on top of Jaime's other hand.

Bart was becoming familiar with Jaime being the last sight before he slept and the first sight when he woke and he had to admit he didn't mind. Heck, he'd even miss the Latino come tomorrow night when it was time to sleep alone in his own bed. The night before Bart had noticed the general handsomeness of Jaime, but tonight Bart was more aware of Jaime's certain...qualities. Like the shape of the Latino's collar-bone, how dark his eyelashes were, how soft his raven-black hair looked, the attractive curve in his lips, and most of all the heat that settled in his stomach when he thought about how casually close they were. Tonight the moon was coming in full blast and Bart could almost make out every detail of Jaime's face. He admired the sleeping teen's face but that wasn't all. Maybe if it was purely physical attraction then Bart wouldn't have this horrible pit in his throat, but he knew he'd fallen for _Jaime_, the person Jaime. He'd fallen for the outcast kid who didn't believe he was smart or special. He'd fallen for the gentle teasing and seductively casual Spanish phrases. He'd stumbled head over sneakers for the cute, shy kid that didn't understand why Bart was interested in him. He'd screwed himself because there was no way Jaime was interested. He wanted to groan in the feel of a hopeless love. He wasn't a fool. He heard Jaime ask about Cassie. He'd seen how Jaime had been around _Zatanna_. Bart especially disliked that girl. The way she scanned Jaime up and down when he wasn't paying attention, looking at him like he was a piece of meat thrown in front of a wolf, churned his stomach.

No, he knew better than to get hopeful...but it was so hard when the object of his affections was dangled in front of him. He could be Jaime's friend but he didn't know how he could take it in the future when someone else made a move on him. Could he watch Jaime and be happy for his friend being with someone else?

"I don't know..." he mumbled quietly to himself.

He saw Jaime nudge his nose against his tan hands before settled back into stillness.

Coming to terms with his feelings was hard, even harder was knowing he couldn't stop them from growing if he didn't crush them at every moment of hope.

"Stupid," Bart mumbled, "You don't even know." And he can't.

He saw Jaime's eyebrows push together, forming a crease between them.

Bart smiled wanly as he reached up and smoothed the crease out of Jaime's eyebrow, "Shh." He whispered, "Don't worry about me."

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**Hello! Remember to favorite/follow/review to keep this author motivated to write more and keep updating! 3**


	6. Chapter 6: Trust

**Hey guys! I'm having a great time reading the reviews so keep them coming!**

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

Jaime strolled down the school hall during lunch trying to look natural and not call attention to himself. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his gray sweater, glancing around for the auburn head in the crowd that would mean he was headed in the right direction.

Bart was hiding something and Jaime knew it...he just didn't know what. The older teen had thought about it a lot while they were watching those movies yesterday and he decided that he was going to trail Bart today. If Bart was going to keep him in the dark then he was going to shed some light of his own. Jaime set his eyes in determination as he stalked down the hall. He'd been pacing the sophomore halls for a few minutes now and had yet to see the shorter teen. He huffed impatiently. Bart stored his lunch in his locker so he should have been here by now. A few more paces and he heard footsteps in the direction of Bart's locker. _Finally,_ he thought as he headed down to the corner that connected the two halls. When Jaime peered around the bend he didn't see bright green eyes and auburn hair but instead two pairs of cerulean blue coupled with matching raven black hair. Conner Kent and Tim Drake.

"Matones." a frown visibly darkened Jaime's features. If there was one thing he hated in the world it was bullies. He felt flame lick at the insides of his stomach as he watched the two talk among one another and lean against the lockers with casual cockiness. Jaime unconsciously stepped forward and the sound of his feet was enough to still their conversation.

Tim looked at him with steel-hard eyes that made it obvious that a new face was unwelcome while Conner just raised an eyebrow at the intrusion. Jaime unknowingly narrowed his eyes with hatred at the group of delinquents. He saw their type all the time; breaking things, causing fights, and making good people feel unsafe. His father had had a especially strong and potent sense of justice that made him stand up against delinquents and criminals alike for the sake of the little guys; so inadvertently Jaime had been raised to feel and do so also.

"What do you want _Reyes_?" Conner said his name with a tone that Jaime didn't care to identify. His voice which was already naturally rumbly became like thunder with the added purr in his voice.

Jaime stood his ground, "Have either of you seen Bart?"

Tim Drake let out a mischievous laughter that always gave others the chill, "You're looking for _that_ nerd?"

Not a nerd, he mentally groaned.

Conner didn't laugh but his eyes alone showed enough smug enjoyment, "We haven't seen him today." he jeered. And Jaime couldn't ignore how the larger teen's eyes scanned his body invasively.

Jaime's muscles tensed and bristled. He let out a slow breath, in the nose and out the mouth. Keep it cool Jaime Reyes, he chided himself, they're just being jerks.

"Thanks." He replied curtly and turned on his heel so he could walk away before he seriously hurt the two in a most likely losing fight.

"See ya later." Conner purred and Jaime felt a chill run down his spine. He most definitely did _not_ want to see them later he thought as their laughter rung through the halls.

After stalking the halls and cafeteria Jaime headed to the school library by default. He struck gold as he saw the auburn sitting at a table with a sandwich in one hand and a world history textbook in the other. Jaime went around the long way and circled to behind the auburn, taking a seat far to the right of the row of reading tables.

He allowed his mind to wander as he took in his new surroundings. His thoughts turned to happier times when he and Tye would skateboard for hours after school because they had no homework to do and they both enjoyed the freedom. When his only concern with school and scores were talking during class without getting caught and scoring hoops in the old basketball court by the church on their way home. Maybe "happier times" wasn't really the right description; he was happy yeah but now he was happy too-just a different kind. Back then he had a much looser schedule, now it was wound a little tighter and what was expected of him was becoming harder and harder to meet. He was barely passing AP Bio with a C-. Math had always been his best subject but as the class started on trigonometry he found himself staring at disjointed steps that didn't have any logical connections in his mind. He did all his homework but could still see his grade slowly dropping decimal by decimal. The most frustrating part was watching the other students do it all with no effort while it felt like he struggled to grasp each new lesson. Jaime placed his head down on his folded arms, then moved his arms out of the way so he could cool his head with the cold table top.

All of a sudden lunch was over and Jaime started with a lunge from the table when the bell woke him.  
He glanced to where Bart had been sitting; empty. Jaime gathered his things quickly and headed out the library in a hurry, hoping he wouldn't be late for his next class.

First recon: no progress.

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"Jaime Reyes wake up." the teacher snapped a ruler against his desk and everyone in the room except Jaime flinched. He was completely unfazed as the English teacher glowered down at him. His deep slumber completely uninterrupted.  
There were a few scattered little laughs.  
The teacher's face reddened with anger as he poked Jaime's shoulders with the ruler. This time the teen stirred and when he opened his eyes to see furious Mr. Wayne looking down at him he jumped back in his seat, doing a comical cartwheel thing with his hands.  
"Do my lessons bore you, Reyes?" the teacher asked between clenched teeth, his tone completely passive.  
"N-No sir." Jaime gulped down air.  
The teacher sighed at him, "Well maybe you'll find detention more entertaining. Mr. Allen's room, after school."  
Allen? Jaime blinked in confusion. It had to be a coincidence right?  
"Understood?" the teacher asked for clarification when Jaime didn't answer.  
"Yes sir." his mom was going to kill him if she found out.

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.

.

"So, bad boy Jaime," Zatanna cooed as she took the seat next to him, "I heard you went toe to toe with the school's scariest English teacher?"  
Jaime chuckled lightly, "Yeah..." he rubbed his neck, "I kinda fell asleep."  
"How'd he react?" she asked curiously.  
"Angry." Jaime noticed that both Bart and Gar were listening also, "I have detention after school in Mr. Allen's room."  
Jaime glanced at the auburn.  
"Allen?" Zatanna replied drawing his attention back to her, "He teaches Physics. Do you know where that room is?"  
"Yeah." or at least he had an idea of where.  
Zatanna smiled cutely and patted Jaime on the shoulder, her hand lingering there for a second longer than necessary before she removed it.  
"Well," she stood, "Let's get started on this horror movie." Bart had felt a spike of jealousy at Zatanna casually touching Jaime but he shoved the feeling down and forced a smile on his face. Gar looked strangely between Bart and Zatanna. His green eyes had picked up the passing darkness on Bart's face as he watched Zatanna touch Jaime. Gar noted that both teens liked Jaime and that the Latino boy was none the wiser. Anyone with eyes could see Zatanna's feelings for the Latino, while one had to squint to see Bart's it was still there. A crafty smile curved his lips, this movie just might be more fun than he had thought...

The teens spent the rest of the period developing an outline for their movie, "What about using aliens and a spaceship setting?" Zatanna suggested but she saw Jaime's brows furrowed with thought, "What?" she asked him.

"Well..." Jaime drawled, "That would mean we'd have to make an alien setting. I'm not sure we could do that..."

"How about we do one about kids who wake up in the desert with no memories of who they are?" Bart suggested, "And they're being hunted by shape-shifting aliens."

"And they don't know it but they're aliens themselves!" Gar exclaimed.

Zatanna gave him a weird look but Jaime considered it, slowly he spoke while mentally working it out, "...and they find out only when they die...'cause they see their blood's the same color as the aliens."

"Yeah!" Gar seemed pleased with the acceptance of his idea.

"Where's the horror in that?" Zatanna didn't seem satisfied.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Gar challenged.

"Maybe." Zatanna had the smile again, "We could use a true story and embellish it a little. I read about how a couple years ago in Chatsworth when two trains crashed together. One of the passengers onboard was on his way to a job interview and after he got hired he was going to marry his fiancé. He wasn't found in the wreck or any hospitals, so his family and fiancé thought that maybe he was still alive. Then they started getting calls from his cell phone with nothing on the other end but static. The family got 35 separate calls over a 12 hour period that night, leading rescue workers to attempt to trace the phone's signal in hopes of finding him. But what they'd found was unexpected: he'd died on impact in the crash. To make matters even more eerie, his cell phone was never located, as the calls coming from it stopped about an hour before his body was found."

"Laaame." Bart and Gar said in unison.

Zatanna breathed an insulted huff, "I thought it was a good idea, better than amnesic aliens."

Jaime found three pairs of eyes, two of bright green and one of cerulean, zooming in on him at once then. His own eyes widened when he realized they were waiting for his "leadership".

"Uh..." his hand instinctively began to rub at his neck, "How about we combine both?"

Three pairs of eyebrows all knitted together in confusion.

"How?" he heard Zatanna ask.

How indeed.

Jaime rubbed at his neck again before lowering his hand to his side.

"We could have the teens in Gar and Bart's story hear voices in their heads, like of dead people." Dios mio that sounds way less lame in his head.

There was a pause that made Jaime's face flush with embarrassment at even suggesting such a lame idea. He was about to take it back when he heard Gar exclaim "Sweet!" excitedly, soon followed by the rest of the teams own agreement and inputs about whether to have one voice or many and about why the voices were in their heads.

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Bart looked around the halls carefully as he made his way to his locker. He needed to get his AP bio book out of there for the homework tonight. Bart peaked his head around the corner to his locker and was relieved to see that the hall had no hostile figures loitering around for him.  
The coast was clear and he stepped around the corner boldly to begin the short walk to his locker. It was combo, pull, grab, and he was scotch-free.  
"Hey loser." and that was it, what he'd been trying to avoid.

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.

.

Apparently the physics class hadn't been near AP bio like Jaime had thought. It had seemed logical at the time but now he wished he had asked Zatanna where it was as he wandered the school in search of the physics class, or someone to ask where it was, whichever came first. Jaime sighed as he shoved his pockets into his sweater and began stalking the halls up and down.  
Great, he sarcastically thought, I'm going to be late for detention.

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.

Bart was trapped between the two jocks and the wall of lockers. Tim was wearing his sunglasses now that classes were over, Bart noticed as they threw mocking insults at him. He vaguely wondered why he did that before Tim said something that actually jumped out from his usually "loser, geek, princess, goody-goody, teacher's pet" insults.  
"-Jaime Reyes." he heard the jock finish. Bart refocused his mind and look up into black shades, "What'd you say?"  
Conner raised an eyebrow with his usual straight face still in place.  
"So that's your tender spot?"

Bart's eyes flickered to ice shards of blue.  
"I don't know what you mean, meathead." Bart said defiantly with a slight lift of his chin.  
Conner was smiling smugly as he took a step forward and very easily invaded Bart's personal bubble. Bart was trapped between steel-strong arms on either side of his head as Conner leaned menacingly in.  
"Wha, what?" Bart asked in confusion and trepidation at the sudden change in Conner's bullying approach.  
Conner smiled smugly and invaded Bart's space a little more. Bart could now feel the larger teen's breath on his face and it was wholly unnerving. He felt claustrophobic as the large teen trapped him with his body, pinning his leg between Bart's.  
"Jaime Reyes catch your interest?" Conner asked in a jeering tone and Bart felt his hot breaths puff against his face. Conner didn't give Bart the chance to reply as he smiled in a way that made the auburn nervous, "Do you like this? Maybe you wish Reyes would do this to you?" he leaned in just a fraction more and Bart could now feel the other teen's lips were just a paper's width from his own.

"How do you think of _Jaime_?"  
Bart was stunned silent as Conner held his distance (or lack of). Bart had backed up as far as the wall to his back would allow and the space between them still didn't seem to grow. It seemed the smug older boy was willing to actually wait for the response. Bart opened his mouth to respond but found his mouth being invaded the moment he did. Bart let out a shocked noise that got swallowed by the other boy's lips which were crashing onto his own hungrily. Bart raised his hands and pushed his palms against the other boy in an attempt to break them apart, trying to pull his head away while trying to push Conner away, but Conner forcefully grabbed the curve between Bart's neck and head along with a handful of hair and kept their lips joined. Conner greedily took what he wanted from the smaller boy with auburn hair and doe-like eyes and didn't care if he hated him for it; he wasn't his real desire anyways. No, Conner was just trying to see what others saw in the nerd. What a certain attractive Latino saw in the nerd.  
"Alejate de el!" Bart heard a familiar voice and yet it was oddly unfamiliar in its tone. A moment later Conner felt his body be jerked back with a surprising amount of force. He heard a loud metallic bang and realized from the pain in his back that it was him hitting the opposite wall of lockers. And there before him was his little secret desire in the form of a very angry, crimson with fury, and incredibly hot Jaime.  
Voy a matarle!, Jaime thought in his blood-color-tainted rage. (_I'm going to kill him!_)  
Conner didn't see the tan fist coming but he sure as hell felt it. Tim, who had been momentarily paralyzed with shock, quickly jumped in to pull the raging Latino off of his friend. Jaime swore in Spanish and hit and swung his arms randomly, not caring which one of the two bastards he hit. He got Conner one more good time before he was pinned against the lockers. Bart for his own part was utterly useless, he had been shocked by Conner's attack and double shocked by Jaime's appearance and the polar flip from his usually gentleness. Bart flinched when Tim landed a hard punch to Jaime's upper cheek. Conner growled defensively at the look of pain that crossed Jaime's face but Jaime didn't let up so he couldn't command Tim to back off.  
It was when Conner punched the locker next to Jaime's face in hopes of intimidating him into surrender that another voice entered the small nest of bilingual curses.  
The voice came in loud and booming and angry, "All four of you; Allen's room-NOW."  
It was Mr. Wayne who had said that and no one dared to argue. The two boys, after a shocked pause, quickly released Jaime and stepped back.  
Jaime noticed the blonde male teacher standing beside Mr. Wayne then, the teacher seemed to have his eyes wholly focused on Bart and Jaime just got the feeling that be had found Mr. Allen.

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The teachers had brought them into Mr. Allen's room and questioned them each individually. Jaime and Bart told almost the whole truth, conveniently both forgetting Conner's _type_ of bullying. After they'd all been interrogated the teachers stood in front of the four teens who were slouching in the chair desks that Mr. Wayne had told them to sit in.  
Mr. Wayne scanned his piercing eyes over the young men and set each one with a hard disapproval in his eyes. Conner was cradling his head as if it was going to explode while Tim was slouching down as far as he could, wishing he could disappear rather than face the wrath that was sure to come when he got home. Bart was looking nervous as he rapidly tapped his feet. And Jaime was wondering what his mom would say if she found out he got a detention and in a fight on the same day. Mr. Wayne cleared his throat and all eyes rose to meet his.  
"You're all dismissed. But if this _ever_ happens again I will _bury_ you under the school." he said the last part with a pointed glare to Conner and Tim.  
"Ah," Mr. Allen interjected, "except you Jaime-you still have detention."  
Jaime wanted to ask why. Why they were they all getting off scotch free-especially Tim and Conner who were most definitely not first time offenders. He understood Bart not getting in any trouble, he was the victim and hadn't participated in the violence, but Conner and Tim?  
Mr. Wayne nodded his head in agreement with Mr. Allen, "Understand?" he asked with finality.  
"Yes sir." The students responded despondently.  
"You can leave now." Mr. Allen said to the other two, "But, uh, Bart can I talk to you?"  
Bart sat back down as the two troublemakers filed out, Tim mumbling something about not wanting to ever go home. Mr. Allen waited until the other teacher had left also before speaking.  
"Bart..." Mr. Allen started, "Do you have something you want to tell me?"  
Bart raised an eyebrow, "Me?" he asked innocently.  
"About this." he poked at the side of Bart's lip which he hadn't noticed _hurt_ before, "You didn't tell me about getting hit." he observed aloud.  
"Must of slipped my mind, things happened pretty quickly." Bart said quickly.  
Mr. Allen rose a doubtful eyebrow, he knew the difference between an abusive kiss and a punch.  
"Is that true Jaime?" Mr. Allen asked. Jaime looked up with a dear-in-the-headlights look in his eyes.  
"Uhh..." Jaime's accent came out a little thicker, "I-guess. Like Bart said, things happened quickly."  
Mr. Allen nodded his head, "Alright," he looked to Bart and patted his shoulder comfortingly, "You can go now Bart, Jaime has to stay behind for detention."  
"You're not going to tell my grandparents are you?" Bart mumbled cutely as he looked up at his uncle from below.  
Mr. Allen ruffled Bart's hair with a smile tugging at his lips, "Nah sport, I remember what it was like when I was your age. And it's not really you're fault."  
"Thanks Uncle Barry." and with a last look to Jaime he exited the classroom also.

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Detention was an hour long and half way through Barry Allen had finished grading all the physics tests from his last period. Jaime had finished, well, _all_ his homework a little before him. You weren't supposed to do homework in detention but after Mr. Allen suggested that he could Jaime was just glad to have something to do. Though after finishing it he was back to the beginning with nothing to do but be stuck sitting there until a certain amount of time ticked away.  
"So Jaime." Mr. Allen drawled when he thought the time was close enough to over; he never was one for patience. It always baffled him that the school thought he could sit in a classroom with nothing to do but stare at a kid. "What are you in detention for?" boredom never set well with Barry; he was a social guy, he had to talk to people.  
"Uhh..." Jaime hadn't been in detention for almost a year but he was pretty sure 'No Talking' was one of the golden rules, "I fell asleep in Mr. Wayne's class."  
Barry let out a chuckle. He didn't blame the kid. Bruce was fun for teasing with his uptight personality but when it came to lectures and teaching he was all facts and imperial monotone.  
"Bet he went batsy when he saw that." he chuckled some more at the stoic teacher loosing his calm demeanor.  
"Yeah, he was pretty scary." Jaime consented. Barry rubbed his hands together. Jaime seemed like a good kid but you could never be sure. It seemed like he was Bart's friend but Barry saw the kids now-a-days; they were all disrespect and electronics.

"How about I let you go a little early?" Barry suggested with his signature smile.

Jaime's eyes widened slightly, he still had fifteen minutes left...

"Are you sure?" Jaime seemed hesitant and Barry wondered why, "Won't you get in trouble for something?"

Ah, Barry thought as he reassessed his previous doubt about Jaime's character.

"Don't worry about me." he smiled, "I won't." and then he gave a conspiratory wink.

Jaime smiled softly in return and Barry saw the good kid as he was; a sweet kid. Bart had good judge of character, Barry thought with approval as he looked at Jaime's gentle, soft brown eyes, very good judgment.

"Gracias, Mr. Allen." Jaime said with gratitude, something that most kids now-a-day had lost.

"I should really be thanking you." Barry commented lightly, with gratitude and a gentle, friendly smile.

Jaime stopped shoving his possessions into his backpack to look at him with bewilderment, "What for?"

"You came to Bart's rescue." Barry didn't think the kid realized how good he was, "Not many kids would have jumped in there like you did." Barry chuckled, "Or with as much style as you." he remembered hearing from his room when Jaime had commanded Conner to back away in Spanish.

Jaime blushed a little under the odd praise, "El es mi amigo." he mumbled, not even noticing he had switched to his native tongue.

"I know Jaime." Barry came over to stand before the teen and gave him a pat on the shoulder, "Just thank you." he offered a friendly smile, which Jaime sheepishly returned.

Jaime looked at the door and wondered if he was supposed to leave or stay.

"Now, I believe you have a certain someone waiting outside the school's front doors for you." Barry looked out into the hall past the door; he knew his nephew better than he thought.

Jaime's face blanched before Barry quickly added, "You don't want to keep him waiting."

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"Amigo!" Bart exclaimed as he shot up from where he had been perched, near the entrance to the school just as Mr. Allen had said.

Jaime felt grateful and like Bart shouldn't have waited for him at the same time, "You shouldn't have waited." Jaime mumbled, successfully displaying both.

"Dude-my her-man-oh! How could I not after you got a shiner for me? You were just like a hero back there!" Bart zoomed in on Jaime and his large grin suddenly fell as he stopped directly in front of Jaime. Bart stared intensely at his face and he felt slightly anxious at the close scrutiny.

"Qu-que?" he asked as he tried to take a step back from the auburn that had definitely stepped into his personal space, but the auburn matched his step, keeping his eyes trained on him.

Bart reached his hand up and hovered it over the slightly puffy reddish-purple flesh. It was already changing colors, he observed dumbly, must have been hard. "Does it hurt?" he leaned in a little closer and didn't notice that he was only a few inches from Jaime's face.

Jaime's pulse began to beat faster as the auburn leaned in. He couldn't ever hear the question over the sound of his own heart. He noticed Bart's lips were moving and Jaime found his eyes dropping to them. He could feel his heart jogging around in his stomach and felt his brain pause as he unconsciously hitched his breath. He should try to pay attention, but he'd just never noticed that Bart had a little dip right at the top of his lip before. Was he saying something? He was definitely about to say something. His lips were parting. Bart's green eyes looked at him and Jaime swallowed his saliva as he tried to hear the words.

"Does it hurt?" Bart repeated, his voice was curious and serious at the same time. Jaime noticed that he preferred to see the auburn smiling, somehow when he was frowning like that he looked older.

"Yeah." the word passed through Jaime's lips before he could think.

He saw the green eyes dim slightly before a small voice said, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." Jaime felt the pull of the other boy's body and wondered if it was because he had seen him kissing another boy, he wanted to step away to escape the pull but he didn't want to be rude, "I mean, I'm sorry I wasn't there quicker to, you know, stop it from happening." Jaime could feel a small flame rekindle as he remembered Bart being pressed to the lockers by the larger bully's body. He felt chagrined for reasons he didn't know.

Bart's frown deepened and Jaime wondered what he had said wrong to upset the other teen more.

"Don't blame yourself." Bart said in a way that left no room for arguing, "I'm the one that hid it from you. I didn't trust you enough to not agree with them when they called me stuff...I'm sorry."

Jaime's eyes widened, "Wha-you mean-this has happened before?" he imagined Conner taking advantage of Bart before and his blood boiled with a protectiveness he didn't know he had for the younger teen. "Voy a matarle." he hissed, seething with hatred.

Bart's eyes widened in shock, "No!" he quickly recognized what Jaime was thinking, "I mean _yes_, but not like _that_. Today was a first."

Jaime's fire smoldered down but wasn't smothered yet.

"How come they're not in trouble?" he demanded, misdirecting his rage at Bart for a moment before catching himself and mentally scolding himself. Not his fault, he's the victim, he scolded.

"Uh..." Bart shifted his eyes, "Tim's kind of Mr. Wayne's adopted son so I'm pretty sure he'll get enough punishment at home and Conner's dad is the school principal, so I'm pretty sure that Mr. Wayne's going to tell his dad and Conner will get it almost as bad."

Jaime got some satisfaction from that at least and he relented, letting his anger be smothered. He scoffed, "You really thought I was as bad as those jerks?" he asked amused now with a curl of his lips.

Bart was shocked for a moment by Jaime's unexpected reaction. But that was what made Jaime _Jaime, how could he think Jaime could be anything like those guys?_ A moment passed before Bart grinned widely, "Her-man-oh." he slung an arm around his shoulders, the height difference making it slightly awkward for the smaller teen, "I'll buy you some chicken whizees and never doubt you again." he promised. Jaime allowed himself to be steered away by the auburn and found a smile curling his lips.

Sometimes it takes a while to trust others, he got that. Bart trusted him now and that was all that mattered.

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**Okay, so? Opinions? Review and inspire me to write faster and update sooner! Btw what do you think about how I portrayed Conner?**


	7. Chapter 7: But nothing

**I love the reviews guys. A lot of you commented about loving how I developed their relationship while a few were starting to get impatient. Well, I am going to get to the romance slowly but I don't want to just throw them together. I want to show their friendship growing first and them being bromantic together. For those wanting the romance NOW, you'll have to wait. I don't even know when it's coming yet. I have a general outline for this story but mostly I just enjoy the flow and ideas that come to me.**

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**Chapter 7:**

Jaime Reyes reached at his hood and pulled it over his medium-length raven black hair. He paused a second before tugging at the hood to cover his face some more. The last thing he needed was to get into a fight with his mom too. He had walked around the block trying to think of a way into his room without alerting others but it was still light outside and climbing up that tree by his window and into his window wasn't worth the possible effects.

So by the time that dusk came he surrendered to the inevitable and hoped for the best. He came up to the door and steeled his face for what was to come meanwhile mentally mapping his route through the house and straight to his room.

Jaime reached slowly for the doorknob, and even more slowly he turned it. Not a sound was made other than the dull thud of the latch. He let out a deep sigh, tugged his hood more over his face, and opened the door cautiously.

"Jaime Reyes," his mother called with a stern voice as she heard him enter the house. Jaime's muscles tensed before he forced them to relax and closed the door normally behind him. He hadn't even gotten halfway through the door this time... "You should have called if you were going to-Jaime!" she exclaimed in shock as she stepped out into the hall and saw the purplish mark shaped like a crescent around his left eye and upper cheekbone. Even hoods were useless against her. "Dios mio! Que paso?" (_My god! What happened?_)

Jaime sighed deeply, not even bothering to hide his dislike of being heard and seen so easily. One day he was going to have to ask how mothers always knew.

She went quickly into protective mother mode as she grabbed his chin maybe a little too roughly and turned his face so that she could see the bruise better. His hood was jerked back somewhere between the grabbing and turning steps. She went about touching around the swollen skin delicately, gauging when and how hard her son cringed.

"Mom," Jaime sound exhausted, "I'm _fine_." he put emphasis on the last part.

His mother set him with a deadpan look that showed what she thought of him being "fine".

"How did this happen?" she demanded, concerned but no less stern. She held him with a flinty stare as he asked and Jaime felt his throat close.

"There was just some bullies at school picking on Bart and I got involved, it's no biggie. The teachers pulled us apart before it got too bad." he gave the explanation that he had practiced on the way over, executing it perfectly with a casualness that he was proud of.

His mother's worried eyes closed as she shook her head and sighed, "Just like your father." He couldn't tell how she felt about that. He had great memories of his father from when he was little. He had thought of him as a hero for what he did; but he never knew what his mother thought. Probably, she was mostly worried and saw his heroic personality as noble but worrisome.

When she reopened her eyes she seemed to have released some of the anxiety though. He could see that her eyes were glossier than they had been a second ago but didn't dare to point it out. He knew it was from her remembering his late father and he frowned slightly at knowing that she still hurt deeply in there from his absence.

But she was strong and her eyes were her only betrayal before she collected herself and reorganized her thoughts to the current situation.

"They were picking on Bart?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, obviously she thought it strange that anyone would dislike the energetic and friendly auburn. She had grown fond of Jaime's new friend from the times that she had seen him and couldn't imagine why anyone would pick on him.

Jaime nodded in response.

"Is he alright?" she was no longer worried it seemed, now she was looking for the facts.

"Yeah, he's fine too." Jaime answered, "He didn't get hit. I kinda was the one fighting mostly..."

She sighed again. Jaime really was like his father, she thought with a fond shake of her head. When he was little they had thought he was like her side of the family but as Jaime grew older he showed more of his father's qualities. Her late husband had been the intelligent, brave, hero type and Jaime resembling that couldn't make her any happier, even if it made her a little worried at times.

"Mijo." she admonished, "You know that fighting is never the answer."

"Yo se, mom."

"But-" she now spoke softly with approving, gentle brown eyes, "I'm proud of you."

Jaime's brown eyes met matching gentle brown and when he recognized she had meant it he smiled shyly, "Fue nada."

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"Hello Mr. Longshadow." Jaime greeted the old tribal chief, "Is Tye still here? I thought we could go to school together."

The tribal chief nodded, "Tye has yet to leave." he informed Jaime and gestured for the youth to take a seat across from him. Jaime thanked Mr. Longshadow and took the bench seat across from him. The young Latino always noticed how similar Tye's voice was to his grandfather's when he heard the old tribal Chief speak. He vaguely wondered if that's what Tye would sound like when he was older.

Mr. Longshadow rubbed at his knees through his jeans, "These old bones are aching-it must be time for rain." he said and Jaime raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Uhh..." Jaime looked up to the sky; it was a bright clear blue day just like always. Maybe a little colder than usual but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Jaime liked Mr. Longshadow but sometimes he wondered if the elder was beginning to go senile.

"You should grab an umbrella from the vase when you leave." Mr. Longshadow pointed to the door where a wooden basket held two umbrellas. Jaime was nonplussed and stared at the umbrellas with a strong doubt. Carrying an umbrella around on a sunny day would be unusual, to put it politely, but mostly just plain weird.

Jaime was saved from a response by Tye exiting said door then, "Hey." Tye greeted, his voice more pleasant now that he didn't wake up to Maurice being, well, _Maurice_.

Jaime echoed Tye's greeting as he stood.

"Let's go." Tye placed his board down, "See you later Gramps."

"It was nice talking to you Mr. Longshadow." Jaime said as he waved and followed Tye away.

Mr. Longshadow nodded his head in response.

"Dude, what happened to your face?" Mr. Longshadow heard his grandson ask incredulously as the two youths skated away. Jaime started to answer but the words were lost as the distance grew. His eyes grew pensive and he watched as both teens left without taking an umbrella.

"They must decide their own journey." he mused with a light-hearted shake of his head, "I remember when I thought my elders advice was laughable."

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By noon it was cloudy and Jaime groaned. He hated being wrong after being told the right answer. He was gonna have to tell Tye to apologize to his grandpa for him.

Jaime stepped out into the open air. It had been raining since second period that day, thick heavy sheets of water that found their way, with the help of strong winds, under every overhang and soaked every outdoor hangout. Every patch of grass was turned into the enemy, threatening students with hidden mud puddles. And every awning and overhang was useless against the winds horizontal blow.

Needless to say, the group was forced to take their lunch indoors. Luckily though Jaime's old history teacher was a trusting sort of fellow and allowed students to come in while he took his lunch break.

Jaime turned around the last corner and walked by another poster declaring that "Homecoming is Coming" with a surly expression. He'd had to circle around the outside of the school to enter the classroom where he and Tye hung out on rainy days. He yanked on the cold metal knob and instantly heat slapped his face before he even entered. Inside he found a pleasant surprise though; Bart was there. He was sitting on a desk near the middle with Tye sitting in another desk nearby.  
Jaime could make out what Tye was saying through their laughter as he approached closer.

"Bart, my man, you are a riot." the future Indian chief patted the younger teen on the shoulder.

Bart's laughter echoed in response, "Haha, yeah, well I try." he said and Tye chuckled back.

Jaime still had a dark cloud hovering overhead as he entered the conversation, "Hey." his voice was dull and conveyed his disdain at the current weather. Jaime went to the corner by the teacher's desk and crouched down in front of the heater in hopes of getting his jeans dry again. He frowned at the offending articles of clothing that while protective at first now sapped him of his remaining heat.

The laughter slowed to a stop and both teens exchanged a conspiratory look, "Hey Jaime" Tye was no less damp but he didn't seem to mind.

"How's it going kid trip?" Bart cooed.

"Que?" Jaime furrowed his eyebrows together. He hadn't heard that nickname since...

"Where'd you hear that?" He asked with trepidation. He already had a good idea but...

"Tye, mi amigo, here was just telling about that one time you asked the teacher if you could go to the bathroom and on the way back upstairs fell down the stairs-twice!" Yup. Tye; that traitor.

"Tye!" Jaime whined, "Por favor hermano!"

This indignant response earned a fit of laughter from the two teens.

"That's not funny!" he continued to whine anyway, "I felt like I got hit by a train. I laid there for a good fifteen minutes before I could even get up!" Bart noticed that Jaime grew an accent when he was flustered and decided he loved a flustered Jaime. And although he loved a flustered Jaime he decided to relent since the older teen seemed to already be sour.

"Don't worry." Bart placated, "I'm sure that there are plenty of people who've done that." That caused Tye to snort. Well, I tried, Bart mused. Then he saw the darkening scowl that Jaime was now directing towards the heater and he decided it really was best for a topic change.

"I hope they don't cancel PE today." Bart remarked.

Tye groaned since he was one of the few seniors left in PE. "I hope they do. Running laps in the gym stinks." Tye said and straightened up from leaning over laughing before he leaned back into the seat, tipping it back.

Bart seemed appalled by such a comment since his eyes widened and his mouth made an 'O' shape.

"They'll probably switch it to dodge ball." Jaime informed Bart, not bothering to hide the loathing in his voice, "That's what they usually do when it rains." He was grateful that he wasn't in that class anymore. Dodge ball had been his personal enemy throughout all of PE. It was a sadistic sport and should have been canceled under the "cruel and unusual punishment" clause.

"Really?" Bart asked with trepidation. He didn't seem too pleased about this either as Jaime noticed him worrying his lower lip.

Tye's face, on the other hand, glowed contentedly "Sweet." dodge ball was a sport that he never lost at. He was going to _enjoy_ this.  
"Yeah." Jaime bit sarcastically, in response to Tye.

"Dude, stop pouting and come here." Tye commanded his friend and Bart quickly agreed, tag-teaming the Latino, "Yeah," Bart said, "How come you're so gloomy anyway?"

"He's like a cat." Tye scoffed, " He hates rain."

"Hey! I am not like a cat." Jaime defended but the image of Jaime with cat ears had already invaded Bart's mind and the image could only be described as "wrong". Bart cringed and quickly forced the _wrong_ image out of his mind.

"Yeah," Bart agreed, "Cat does definitely not suit him."

Tye raised an eyebrow at the cringe and comment and with the mind of a hormonal teenager figured out what Bart had imagined. That made a sadistic smirk spread across his lips.

"Isn't he?" He decided to have a little sadistic fun, he continued casually, "Can't you just image him stretching out like a cat and deeply sleeping outside like a cat?"

And he did. And it was wrong. _So wrong_. Because Bart didn't have some weird cat fetish and Jaime really shouldn't be stretching and showing midriff and taut muscles like that before relaxing again and curling up with a yawn like Bart had seen so many cats do. And he shouldn't be sleeping so cutely on the ground just asking to be picked up and held in his arms and taken home.

Andhetotallyshouldn'tbethinkingofhisfriendliketh isrightnow.

"Dude." Jaime sounded weirded out, "What the heck?" He asked because that was totally weird and Bart looked like he'd been hit in the face and he had no clue why his friends were even having this conversation.

Tye just shrugged though and patted Bart on the back, which seemed to be what the younger teen needed because his face unfroze-only to be instantly covered in a dusty blush.

Bart turned and shot a glare at the future Indian chief; he did that on purpose. Jaime looked confused as Bart glared at Tye and Tye just smiled back sweetly.

Okaayyy, Jaime thought, my friends are getting weirder...

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.

.

Dodge ball was evil for Bart. He had hoped to have the same team as Tye so he would at least have one ally but it seemed that Miss Prince was out to torture the auburn. Okay, Bart dodged a flying red ball, maybe his amazon-like PE teacher wasn't out to get him but luck definitely was.

Tye at least hadn't thrown any dodge-balls at him so far. He watched as his new friend nailed a fellow sophomore in the gut, causing the kid to stumble a little with the sheer force of the impact. He was definitely glad he wasn't throwing them at him.

Bart wasn't aggressive enough for dodge ball; he was all defense, no offense. He was faster than all the other kids by a lot but that only got you so far in a game where the whole point is hammering people with flying objects. Soon Bart was the last kid in his side of the court and he was staring at a practically full court of teenage boys with hard rubber spheres. He recognized the predatory look in their eyes and knew no amount of running could save him.

"Oh boy" was the last thought he had before five balls came flying in turns and making their target, three hitting him square in the face and the other two hitting him in the chest and arm.

In the boys locker room Bart got laughed at for the tissues that Miss Prince had made him put up his nose to stop the bleeding. The other boys were laughing at him and with amusement they were recalling how he'd gotten hit and how his nose started bleeding-all as if he wasn't there listening. He hated PE on days like this. Bart went to his locker and tried to dress as inconspicuously as possible, mentally willing himself to turn invisible.

"Come on guys." Tye sounded irritated as he stepped into the locker room. All the laughter stopped. He scanned his eyes over the various levels of students and knew he was the alpha male in this group of juniors and below. "Stop picking on him." he commanded in that husky voice of his.

Tye turned to a particular kid that he recognized by face, "I don't want to hear any of you laughing at him, got it?" he remembered he was the kid that had opened his laptop in study hall and had sex noises ring out throughout the whole classroom because he'd had it opened on a porn video.

Tye glared around the room of frozen half-dressed/undressed teenage boys and gave the truculent ones particularly flinty stares, then again on the porno kid which he was pretty sure had been the one to start the laughter.

"Understand?" he asked and the porno kid nervously nodded. The poor kid looked like he was going to pee himself. Good, he thought, that'll keep him from doing it again.

Tye allowed a complacent little smirk.

"Good." then he released the boy from his glare and moved to stand beside Bart and started to change in silence. The conversation slowly began again on other topics and the teens all reverted their attention to their own dressing.

"Thanks." Bart whispered and Tye spared a glance.

"We're friends." he whispered back in his husky voice, the corner of his lip twitching.

Sometimes Bart hated days like this-and sometimes it wasn't quite so intolerable.

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By the time that seventh period came Jaime was back into his brooding mood since his jeans had never fully dried and they'd only gotten wet again when lunch was over and he'd had to leave the warm, dry classroom to be soaked by almost horizontal rain.

"Somebody's a mister grumpy pants today." Zatanna commented when she saw the dark scowl on the Latino's face.

Jaime just sat down and swallowed his "shut up" by instead scowling down at his soaked jeans and the mud soaked into the cuffs. He knew he was being petulant but he didn't care.

Gar stepped in the room looking like a soaked puppy, his mood had been taken down in a different way by the rain it seemed.

"Aw come on," Zatanna elbowed Jaime playfully, "Clothes do dry, you know."

Bart had entered with Gar and picked up the last line, "He just doesn't like getting wet." he offered. Jaime mumbled something in Spanish and Zatanna chuckled.

"The rain is not out to get you." she commented lightly. Jaime was so surprised by her understanding him that he momentarily forgot his earlier mood and turned to the raven-haired beauty with widened eyes, "You can understand me?-I mean Spanish?"

"I took a few classes," she smiled seductively, "Alto, moreno, y guapo."

Bart saw Jaime's eyes widen at the foreign words, "Hey, hey, hey." he got between them, he didn't like that look in her eyes. He knew what _guapo_ meant and Jaime was it but _she_ shouldn't be calling him that.

"I-" Jaime looked at Zatanna and for the first time registered that she was looking at him like she _liked_ him.

"You-" he cut himself off, then began again, "Do you know what that means?"

"Sure." Zatanna smiled sweetly and he didn't doubt that she did know. It was basic Spanish. For the life of him he couldn't see why she'd called him that though, other than if she liked...his mind blanked at the idea. Girls like Zatanna just didn't like guys like him.

Zatanna couldn't help but notice the slightly perturbed look on his face. Maybe she shouldn't have called him that after all, her doubts gnawed at her.

She decided to be safe and smiled in her usual way, "Don't be such a worrier." she pushed his shoulder with her own, "I was just trying to cheer you up." she said in a teasing manner.

Coward, she scolded herself.

Bart watched as Jaime smiled back shyly, "Gracias." he bumped her shoulder back. Jaime just felt relieved that it didn't mean what he had thought it did. He didn't know what he'd do if it had.

Bart didn't like this one bit, he worried his lower lip as he watched the exchange. Not one bit.

"He-hey, mi amigo, how about we start recording that movie?" he suggested loudly to Gar. Gar took one look at Jaime and Zatanna before nodding and responding in a similar volume and tone, "Yeah, come on you two. We need to start getting together stuff for the movie." their attention snapped to him and Gar smiled at Bart; if Zatanna won too quickly it'd be no fun. Besides, he had his money bet on a certain auburn boy and if M'gann won again he'd be back a whole months allowance. That was simply not allowed.

.

.

.

Bart stared at Jaime as the Latino scowled at the empty parking lot. Bart had watched the seventh period teacher tell Jaime that the principal wanted to talk to him. He'd faithfully followed as his friend went to the office confused and came out scowling.

Jaime glowered at the heavy sheets of rain that were darkening all the shades and matching his gloomy mood. He was aware that Bart had followed behind him to and from the office; while before he was too focused on quickly getting there so he could catch the bus, now he was too incensed to take much of his surroundings in, other than the rain-which only added to his annoyance. He'd gone to the office only so that Mr. Kent could spend minutes explaining that Jaime needed to get his grade up in AP Bio or he was going to be dropped then near the end another minute apologizing for Conner's behavior. During that time the buses had come and left. He had his board, yeah, but he had hoped to catch a ride to his street instead of skateboarding in the rain.

He groaned audibly and placed his forehead against the nearest wall.

"Mata me." he mumbled pathetically. (_Kill me._)

Bart decided then was as good a time as any to speak up, "So what'd the principal say?"

"That I'm going to be kicked out of AP Bio." Jaime answered vacantly, his eyes focusing on no point in particular.

Jaime was unfamiliar with the feeling of not wanting to be below average, of wanting to have good grades. He had thought for a moment that he could compare to other kids. He'd had a short sprint with the academic athletes but now he was tired and he knew he would never be as fast. Who had he been kidding? He was an average duckling trying to pass as a swan. Bart was saying something about Jaime needing to try harder but he just couldn't hear it. He couldn't deal with this. He didn't belong in the same classes as Bart; Bart was smart and everything came so naturally to him. How could he compare to raw natural talent?

"Jaime." Bart grabbed Jaime by the shoulders when he realized the older teen had been spacing out. He gently turned the other teen to face him, "mi amigo," he said when Jaime's melancholy, confused eyes connected with his. "Don't you dare give up." Bart gave his shoulders a gentle squeeze to get his message across.

Jaime's gentle mocha colored eyes were swirling smokes of confusion and uncertainty, "But-" Jaime started meekly only to be cut off promptly by the smaller teen.

He stared confusedly into piercing, green, determined eyes.

"But nothing." Bart said calmly but seriously, "I can help you study. You're not dropping out of that class." You're not leaving me.

And that was final. He never again wanted to see Jaime look so despondent. Ever. He was going to prove to Jaime that he could do this, he was going to force Jaime to see how intelligent and smart and kind and amazing he was. Bart knew his intentions were good but they weren't entirely unselfish; there was no way he was losing a moment of his time with Jaime. If anything he was only going to gain more time with him.

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**Help me write again. Show your author love and you shall receive another chapter in return. Am I cruel to Bart? *smiles evilly* Maybe. **

**BTW I want feedback-did you guys like jealous Bart? (not in this chapter-in a previous one) cause I feel like torturing the poor auburn a little more.**


	8. Chapter 8: Sh she

**Chapter 8:**

Zatanna strutted through the halls, heads turning as she walked by, heels clicking beneath her. Homecoming was in two weeks; only two weeks to get what she wanted. On the way to her first period class _another_ person walked up to her; in hopes of getting a date no doubt. And could she blame them? She'd already been asked out three times since the date of the homecoming was announced.  
"Hey Zatanna." the preppy sophomore known as Dick Grayson greeted her as he easily matched his steps to her strut, "So have you been asked to homecoming yet?"  
"Yes." she answered automatically.  
Zatanna looked at the boy. He was handsome; about her height, slicked back black hair, and deep, deep cerulean blue eyes that stunned her for a moment. She'd never seen such blue eyes before.  
When she saw those blue, blue eyes dim with disappointment she actually felt bad this time, "-but" she quickly added, "I haven't accepted any of their offers."  
The blue eye lit up again and she wondered why she'd said that-it's not like she was planning on going with him.  
Dick smiled in a charming way, "Is that so?" he said enigmatically. Zatanna knew what was coming next; he was going to ask her out and she was going to have to turn him down like all the others. It was a shame really, she already felt guilty.  
"Well I hope you find a good date." his feelings were inscrutable as he said that cheerfully and actually _walked away_. Without looking back no less!  
Zatanna stared after the sophomore boy for a moment, having mixed feelings about the amicable boy who had _not_ asked her out.  
She let out an indignant huff and felt turned around.  
"Whatever." she rolled her eyes. She had better things to think about and yummier men to hunt.

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It was lunch that Bart felt an arm pull him out of the lunchtime bustle and into a hall. His first reaction was fear; thinking that Conner or Tim had come to get revenge. He was fully prepared to raise his hands up and placate the two boys when he turned around and instead saw a redhead with similarly green eyes standing before him; Gar.  
"Gar!" Bart almost shouted with relief, "Dude! What's up? Youtotallyhadmescaredformyli fethere!" his words meshed together in his excitement.  
Gar hadn't caught that last part but he figured it didn't really matter, "Bart," he looked around and decided that the hallway wasn't the place to have this conversation, "Is there any place we can go in private?"  
"Private?" the auburn mused for a second, "Well, I was going to the library and it's always quiet there..."  
Gar amusedly raised an eyebrow and the corner of his lips twitched, "That'll work."  
The library was practically empty other than the librarian and a few scattered hermit-students. Gar followed Bart in the unfamiliar territory, taking in the ancient looking bookcases filled with new and old books in a seemingly random organization. Bart weaved through the bookcases with the casual certainty of one who had walked the same route many times over.  
When they stopped in front of a few tables and Bart took a seat at one Gar looked around and was pleased to find there was no one around.  
"Soo..." Gar drawled, uncertain how to say what he wanted now that he was here. He watched as Bart took out his sandwich and took a large bite.  
Well, no time like the present, Gar thought, and no other way to say it than to just say it.  
"You like Jaime right?" it wasn't as much of a question as it should have been.  
Bart swallowed involuntarily and managed to choke spectacularly on his ham-cheese-and-lettuce sandwich. After he had coughed enough to make his eyes water he looked at the redhead with poorly concealed shock.  
"Wh-what'd you say?" he asked as he placed his forgotten sandwich down on the table.  
"Jaime." the redhead repeated in a rather straight way, "You like him right?"  
"Of course," Bart tried to weasel his way out of answering by feigning innocence, "We're her-man-ohs, amigos."  
"You know what I mean." the redhead chose then to sit across from the auburn, "Like _like_ him."  
Oh, Bart thought and it showed across his face. There was no way out of this.  
Gar was surprised at how quickly and utterly perfectly Bart managed to turn a color that matched his hair. The auburn could feel his face heat and he knew he was blushing red. His own skin was betraying him!  
"Me?" Bart squeaked, trying yet again to avoid the answer "You think I like Jaime?"  
"Bart." Gar set him with a level stare, "I know you like him so can you just confirm it so that I can help?"  
"Why are you asking?" he tried again though.  
Gar saw through his poorly executed attempt, "Because I think I can help." he answered him though.  
Bart said nothing and Gar could recognize that Bart was assessing him. He was examining his features and analyzing whether he was lying. After a few moments of no one talking Gar had unconsciously started to fidget under the fellow sophomore's flinty stare.  
He just sat at the table in the library, his hands clasped together and his thumbs twiddling. Gar waited patiently as he stared at his rotating thumbs for another 30 seconds before looking up at the auburn.

Finally Bart asked, "Why?" albeit he was suspicious sounding but Gar guessed that him even asking meant that he believed him.  
Gar took a deep breath and said with all seriousness, "Because I like to think we're friends" then he cracked a smile and lightly added, "and because you're a lot less creepy than Zatanna and her perverted stares...It's just weird to watch her eyeing Jaime for minutes at a time without the _victim_ even knowing." he shivered for good effect and was pleased to find Bart smiling back.  
"Yeah, I don't like how she looks at him either." he agreed with an appreciative grin at someone else understanding his feelings.  
"So, you _do _like him."  
"Yeah." Bart crimsoned as he confessed it for the first time aloud.  
"Do you think he knows?"  
Bart shook his head; if he couldn't notice Zatanna eye-raping him then Jaime was the most oblivious person he knew. "No."  
A few seconds passed before curiosity got the best of Bart; he leaned over towards the boy across from him, "What did you mean when you said you could help?"  
The grin on Gar's face widened to an almost face-splitting level.  
"I can get the wolf away from the sheep..."

.

.

.

"So are you and Dick a thing now?" Gar asked as Zatanna sat beside him. Yes, beside him, because Gar had taken the seat next to Jaime today. Zatanna reluctantly took the free seat with a straight face, unwilling to show her displeasure.  
"What? No." Zatanna quickly denied, then tittered, "Where'd you hear that?"  
"I saw him talking to you this morning. You two looked good together." Gar answered teasingly, with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Gar had had a few conversations with the mathlete Dick Grayson and other than being spectacularly well-rounded in academics and sports (his chosen one being gymnastics) he was witty and amicable. And he had a thing for Zatanna. Gar figured that if he could get Zatanna away from Reyes by way of Grayson than it was a win-win all around.  
"He's a grade below me." Zatanna commented as a legitimate argument. She knew that Jaime and Bart were listening and that made her wish the subject could be dropped. If Jaime thought she liked someone else he'd never ask her to homecoming.  
"Maybe, but he seemed pretty into you."  
Kill me now, Zatanna mentally groaned with a quick glance to Jaime and Bart. Yup, they heard that.  
"You mean, he was being a hormonal fifteen year old." Zatanna corrected.  
Gar shrugged, "Hey, I don't know what you're into."  
Zatanna scrunched her face comically in disgust and Gar chuckled in response, "So no fifteen year olds for you?" she wasn't making this as easy as Gar had hoped.  
"Why?" she turned the tables on him, making it so that the ball was in her court, "Are you interested?" she obviously teased. She elbowed him in the side when he bleh'ed and scrunched his face in intentional disgust.  
"Hardly." he responded with exaggeration.  
"I'm hurt." she feigned pain and they sincerely chuckled together.  
"Anyway." she said a moment later and it had the tone of a definite topic change, "Did you get the video camera we need?"  
Gar's lips curled, "You know it."  
Step one: distance Zatanna from Jaime. Success.

.

.

.

"Hey Uncle Barry, are you going home now?"  
"Yeah," the friendly physics teacher answered, "Just give me a minute kiddo."  
"Okay," Bart took a seat on a nearby desk and watched as his uncle stuffed his papers into his briefcase, "So are we stopping anywhere today?"  
He saw a myriad of expressions cross his uncle's face, "I forgot." he grumbled and Bart suspected he wasn't supposed to hear that, "We have to make a stop by some antique stores." he announced, his face settling on determination and slight worry.  
"Forgot your anniversary again?"  
His uncle nervously chuckled back, a guilty laugh of confession.

.

.

.

"Why an antique store?" Bart asked as they stepped into one. The place had the musky smell of old books and ancient, forgotten things. Boxes were stacked oddly here and there. The walls were all hidden behind object after object, some piled in a way that made Bart nervous. The ceiling fan was spinning and blowing lukewarm air down at them. He had heard a movement in the back room the second that they had entered and the bell rung. Now Bart saw a short, haggard looking Chinese man step out from the back room and take his place behind the counter. He ran his stubby fingers through greasy hair before grabbing a pen and marking a paper with things that Bart couldn't see. Bart looked around the small, narrow store. Objects were placed curiously in groups of organization that seemed random.  
Bart glanced around and felt doubt settle in his stomach as he took in the shop. The interior of the shop (which was even messier than he expected, and had an unpleasant, wet, musty smell) was filled with odd knickknacks; stuffed parrot, Disneyland Mickey mouse hat, an old video game system, watches, jewelry, etc.  
Uncle Barry started perusing the narrow isles, examining each item for the perfect gift. Bart looked around also, not out of actual interest but more out of curiosity and boredom. He had no intention of buying anything in the ancient, run down store. The goods were questionable and cheap looking for the most part. He vaguely wondered if the definition of antique had changed to old junk since he'd last checked.  
He saw his uncle stop and slowly examine the jewelry case. The old store owner was saying how they're on sale and his uncle was saying how Aunt Iris loved antique jewelry.  
Bart rolled his eyes and walked down another row of brown hard back books. The smells of the store were fading as he got used to them but he couldn't quiet get that old book smell out of his system as he started down another aisle.  
When he looked at his uncle next he was being carted away to the back of the store, the owner cooing to Barry about how he had a good eye and how he really knew sand from pearls. Bart followed behind as the proprietor just started saying, "I keep all mah best goods in de back." he clucked his tongue in a tsk-tsk way, "I kin't stand to see good stuff be bought an' be stuffed undah some snotty kid's bed." the old man patted Uncle Barry on the back with his wrinkled hand, "But _you_, I can tell yer a pragmatic-like fellow who knows how ta buy some-thin' good an' appreciate it."  
Uncle Barry seemed to be taking the flattery to heart and Bart rolled his eyes at the squat cajoling man.  
The back room had slightly better things but there was still junk thrown in. Bart watched with a bored stiff expression as the greasy shop owner pulled random items from the floor, shelf, pile etc. and gave a unrealistic history for each object. Meanwhile his uncle rubbed at his chin and listened with acute attention as the man spewed whatever story he cared to tell.  
Bart wanted to roll his eyes-so be did, and his eyes fell on a lackluster blue peaking out from under a kite.  
"What's that?" he pointed to the half hidden object, his expression schooled into disinterest as he asked.  
"What's what?" the shopkeeper quickly asked and followed Bart's finger. The elder answered with a look that clearly said he thought Bart was looney, "Don't you got any wits 'bout you? It's a red an' green kite."  
Bart face-palmed himself before he could think better of it.  
"Not THAT," Bart stepped closer and pointed at the object again, "_THAT_."  
"Oh! _That_!" the shopkeeper exclaimed then, "Not'in' jus' some rusty ol' blue beetle. Ain't good fer not'in'. Don't do a t'ing." the shopkeeper dug through the things piled on top of it and pulled out a dull blue metal-stone beetle. "See?" he held it up and weighed it in his hand, "Heavy an' good fer not'in'."  
Something about the object appealed to Bart though, he remembered his conversation with Jaime about how his father used to collect insects and it was no butterfly but it seemed to fit Jaime somehow. Bart could sense that feeling starting to settle in his stomach. That weird, fluttery sort of feeling that he got whenever he thought about Jaime lately. The warm, fluttery feeling in his gut that made him try to spend all his time with the other boy and made him offer to do things that he usually wouldn't do; like tutoring, and walking together, and wanting to talk for hours no matter what it was about.  
He kept his face straight and disinterested as he weighed the object in his own hands. "It'd do fine as a paper weight." he said tiredly. The scarab was covered in a layer of dusk and grime but below that he felt the strange metal-stone surface of it. The texture wasn't made of anything he was familiar with...  
It was strangely beautiful, the scarab felt cool to the touch. Characters were carved delicately into the shell of it and he just knew that under all that junk it had a vibrant, deep blue.  
Bart put on his game face, "I'll give you five for it." he had only twenty on him.  
"You like that mm?" the proprietor rubbed at his chin, "We got this just last week!" he held up a statue of a black eagle, "Genuine mah-hog-o-nay! Fine d'tails on its wings. An' look at the jewels decoratin' its head an' back."  
Bart frowned at it, "I prefer this...scarab." he shrugged.  
The man rubbed at his chin again, "I getcha." he gave a dirty wink, "Thirty an' it's yers!"  
Bart nearly choked at the price jump, "You just said it was a rusty piece of junk!" he squawked.  
"It's a priceless antique." the man simply stated. Bart gawked, "Ten dollars." he firmly responded.  
The man thought about it, "Twenty-five." he declared.  
That was still more than he had!  
"That's robbery!"  
"I don't need some scrawny teen tellin' me 'ow ta work mah shop! I ain't as foolhardy as I look boy. This 'ere scar'b's a genuine fancy schmancy antique an' I ain't gonna sell it fer ten dollars ta some scrawny boy who's jus' gonna stuff it un'er his bed!"  
"I wouldn't-" he cut himself off, groaning inwardly he answered, "Look I can appreciate fine antiques...I wanted it as a gift."  
"Fer who?" the man narrowed his Asian eyes at Bart.  
"For a friend. I-" he stumbled on words and he would forever curse himself for the word that followed, "Sh...she had a dad that used to collect insects. So I...I thought I could clean it up and it'd look nice on the end of h...her bed." Bart was blushing thoroughly by the end of that and all he wanted to do was hide his head in the ground until his sanity returned. What had made him say that?! Why?! Because he'd started blushing and it'd look stupid if he blushed like that while talking about his _male_ friend?!  
There was an unbearably long pause before the shopkeeper chuckled, "So it's like _that_." he smiled lecherously and Bart wanted to face-palm himself.  
"Twenty." the man relented.  
"Fifteen." Bart squeaked.  
The man grinned widely and patter Bart on his shoulder roughly, "Alright kiddo, fifteen." he winked at him and Bart could just die of embarrassment as he turned a few shades more crimson.

.

.

.

Bart went down the hall to his room after the anniversary party and grabbed the brown paper and thread-string wrapped package under his bed. Well he bought it. Bart unwrapped the package and admired his purchase.  
It took more than an hour to clean the scarab. He used cotton swabs to clean dust out of the etchings. He rubbed away the dullness tirelessly to reveal a blue luster. Once he had cleaned every crease and ridge he spent a minute to admire his work.  
What had come over him?! Bart had had no intention of buying a gift for Jaime when he'd walked in there with Uncle Barry! He groaned audibly and cradled his head in his palms. But when he'd seen the scarab he'd just been powerless to that fuzzy feeling that told him it was worth it to spend almost all his money just to see Jaime's smile when he received the gift. He'd lost all his sensibility to that churning in his stomach and he knew he'd lose to it again if given the chance.  
Bart looked at the gift then. After he cleaned it the scarab looked decades younger and came out better than he had even imagined. Its blue shine and smooth shell were ideal and made Bart grin at the thought of what Jaime would think when it was handed over.  
How was he going to give it to him though?! If he just gave it to him out of the blue it might be taken wrong-or worse, taken _right_. And that was the last thing he wanted.  
He couldn't afford to give Jaime the gift until he figured out what he wanted it to mean.  
Bart gave the scarab one last look before he sighed and placed it in a clean corner of his dresser top.

.

.

.

"A substrate is converted into a product by the first enzyme in the pathway and the product of the first reaction then becomes the substrate for the next reaction." Bart poked the end of his pencil to Jaime's forearm.

"Then what happens to the first substrate?"

"It continues until it becomes the final product."

Jaime opened his mouth to say something but then snapped it shut.

Bart explained and they very, very slowly got through it until, "...For instance, a partially deoxygenated hemoglobin binds allosterically with 2,3-Bisphosphoglycerate that upregulates the release of the remaining oxygen molecules bound to the hemoglobin, thus, enhancing the ability of the RBC to release oxygen near tissues that need it most."

Jaime's eyebrows scrunched together before he responded, "Okay, I'm bilingual and I _still_ don't know what you just said."

Bart had to explain almost every biology term twice and ended up spending an hour on each ten to fifteen pages.

"That doesn't make any sense. Shouldn't it-" Jaime started again and Bart cut him off.

"No."

Jaime groaned in such a way that made Bart want to purposely coax another moan of frustration from the Latino. It had taken a lot of effort not to do it purposefully, even though he did it enough as it was.

"WHY?" Jaime dropped his pencil and roughly ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Just remember that this," he pointed to a diagram, "follows this. Just remember. Don't use your logic for questions like this," Bart said.

"There's nothing wrong with my logic." Jaime protested, "And who the hell named these things? How do they expect us to remember all these words?"

Bart shrugged.

"And this alphabet soup! TEM, SEM, ER, ABCD! I'll never get this!" he switched to Spanish in his frustration and Bart waited for Jaime to blow off enough steam to start again. When he did calm down enough they started again...

"What four things do all cells have in common?" Bart questioned.

"Ribosomes, chromosomes...plasma membranes...and..." he groaned again in frustration. They'd _just_ covered this. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten already.

"Semi fluid cytosol." Bart provided, "You're getting better."

Jaime stumbled through some more problems until, "What is the point of internal membranes in eukaryotic cells?" Bart questioned.

Jaime paused considerably, "To..." he paused again then groaned and run his hands through his hair.

"I hate this." he whined pathetically.

"Don't worry." Bart rubbed at his back coaxingly, "You'll get it."

Jaime stayed like that for a few minutes and Bart just traced patterns over the handsome Latino's back and shoulder blades. Bart felt that warm, fluttery feeling return in his stomach as the minutes passed without Jaime moving from his head-in-palms pose. It seemed that the older teen had had too much brain stimulation for one day and needed a break. Bart began to apply pressure when he noticed the tense knots in the others back, absently he tried to massage away the tension with his thumb pad and palm. It felt so good to just be in contact with Jaime and to be close, even if they weren't doing anything too intimate he could tell that Jaime letting him in his space was a big deal. The whole situation strangely felt much more intimate to him than it should have. He wondered what Jaime was thinking then, if he was aware of the soothing patterns and massages he was giving him. He wondered if he liked it if he was aware. He wondered if he felt the same intimacy that Bart was feeling.

Was it wrong that he was enjoying this too much while his friend was so frustrated?

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**Remember reviews = faster updates. I love the reviews and read them all so keep 'em coming! BTW I added to the Allen tradition started by Wally in season two~**


	9. Chapter 9: War

**Okay so this is my longest chapter written for this story so far! WOW I couldn't believe the word count it came out to! Six thousand! But alas, I couldn't bear to break this into two parts, so you guys get to have it all at once! Thank you all for your comments and especially those repeat reviewers that encourage me chapter after chapter. Thank you-or as the Reach would say-gratitude.**

* * *

**C****hapter 9:**

War.

It was when Bart saw Zatanna giggle and touch Jaime's arm again in Creative Communications that he decided he wasn't going to be lukewarm any more. Like hinges straining against the weight, he could no longer keep from reacting when Zatanna flirted with Jaime. He was going to declare war and he was going to be the victor.

"Zatanna." He interrupted her good-byes, "Can I talk to you?"

The raven haired beauty raised an eyebrow but nodded mutely, "Sure."

They waited until the students had all filed away and they were alone in the hallway. Bart paused when they reached a place with enough privacy. He was beginning to have second thoughts. Who was he to claim Jaime? Sure they were friends and Jaime liked him but it was nothing like _that_. He had no clue what Jaime was interested in. He didn't know if Jaime liked blondes, brunette, redheads, auburns-or _males_.

Zatanna watched with nonchalant interest as the auburn who had called her out was now standing before her fidgeting nervously.

"This is about Jaime isn't it?" she guessed and saw the auburn's shoulders jump in surprise.

Bart looked at her and knew she had figured him out.

"Yes." he said stolidly, "I want you to back away from Jaime."

Zatanna scoffed and Bart kept his stance.

"Why?" she inquired.

"Because he-"

"No." she said dully, then, "What's _your_ reason for wanting me away from him?"

There was a long pause. It was then that Bart realized he hadn't really thought this through. He hadn't thought this through at all. He didn't know what to say to that. What could he say? That he wanted her away because he didn't think she was good for Jaime? That he wanted her away because she threatened his friendship with Jaime? That he wanted her away so that he could make his own moves on Jaime?

When he didn't answer she prompted him, "Is it because you don't like me or because you like him?"

Bart took a deep breath. He set his jade eyes in determination and made a decision and, answering with his heart, he stared into her ice-colored eyes, "Both."

She didn't seem insulted by this but instead intrigued.

"Would you back off if I asked you?" she challenged.

Bart didn't answer. He knew he wouldn't, he _couldn't_, and he suspected she knew that also.

He kept his face schooled in determination as he saw a crafty smile curve the junior's lips, "Well, I'm not backing off either." her eyes may be blue but they were burning with a fiery determination, "After all, all's fair in love and war."

"So which is this?" Bart spoke levelly as he reflected the look in her eyes, "Love or war?"

Her eyes were sparking with mischief, "Not sure but I'll make sure you're first to know when I figure it out." then "Which is it to you?" she inquired, "Is this about Love or War?"

"Neither." she raised a quizzical brow at that. He seemed serious and that confused her even more.

Bart turned around and started to walk away before he stopped and looked over his shoulder with a cocky smile.

Then, "It's about _Jaime_."

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.

.

"Hey her-man-oh!" He caught up to Jaime in the general crowd of people in the school parking lot. The Latino was talking to Tye and as Bart half-jogged up to them he saw Zatanna glaring at him in the corner of his eye. Heh, Bart thought, stuck in the distance.

"Hey man." Tye patted him on the back when he got in reach.

Bart smiled impishly, "Hey." he greeted cheerfully back. His mind was in an adrenaline induced rush; he had declared war and made a decision.

Tye pinched his cheeks and stretched them, "What are you looking so happy for?" he grinned at the poor auburn as he tried to squirm away from the grip on his cheeks.

"Ouch-ouch-ouch!" Bart chanted quickly.

"Look at you." Tye let go of his own will, "You're stealing my man Jaime from me and smiling while you do it." he play-pouted and Jaime laughed behind him.

"Hermano, no one is stealing me from you." He leaned his elbow on Tye's shoulder.

_Not yet anyway_, Bart mentally insert.

"You're both my best friends. Now quit picking on him." Jaime had that charming smile that made Bart wonder why the handsome Latino wasn't swarmed with admirers. Best friends, that made Bart fly up to cloud nine, even if he was trying to change that now it still made him happy!

"Yeah!" Bart grinned, unable to contain his ecstasy.

Tye went to pinch his cheeks again but this time Bart saw it coming and ducked in time, then put some distance between them.

Jaime chuckled as Tye shrugged his amused friend off, "Whatever man." he grumbled. He looked away from the two petulantly before his eyes caught a beautiful blonde from one of his classes walking by, his eyes followed her for a few seconds before he turned back to his friends.

"Do either of you losers have a date for homecoming yet?" he asked.

Bart quickly looked to Jaime and felt instantly relieved when he saw Jaime shake his head no.

"Nope. I'm not even sure I'm going this year." Jaime confessed.

"Dude." Tye intoned, "Don't be so lame." then, "I'll get you a date. I know some hot girls from business math that don't have a date yet. They'd totally love to go with you."

Bart felt his heart fill with dread. Nononono! He stared at Jaime while trying to not show his internal distress.

Jaime chuckled good-naturedly, "Nah." he answered easily, "Blind dates aren't my thing."

Tye tsk-ed then turned his eyes to Bart, "How 'bout you pipsqueak?" his husky voice was teasing. Bart had learned from Jaime that teasing meant Tye liked him. He didn't know how to feel about that yet.

Jaime turned his eyes to the auburn beside him and watched as a myriad of emotions flickered across his face. It was always interesting to watch his face, he mused. The younger teen was like an open book for all to read.

"Me?" Bart questioned nervously, his eyes flickering to Jaime's for a second and making contact before he returned them to Tye, "I, uh, don't know if I'm going yet." he confessed. _Because I don't know if Jaime is going yet._

Tye sighed exasperated, "Both of you." he shook his head.

"Hey, I don't see you with a date yet." Jaime verbally poked.

"That," Tye's husky voice answered smoothly as he made a point of looking at the girls in the parking lot, "is because I haven't decided which one yet."

Jaime rolled in eyes, "Whatever ese."

The school buses started rolling in and Tye picked his backpack up off of the asphalt, "See you later." he said and then parted towards where the buses were stopping.

"I thought he rode his skateboard home?" Bart questioned as he watched the future Indian chief board the public school transport.

"He does," Jaime answered, "but I guess he just felt lazy today."

Bart chuckled, "I guess."

Bart turned to face Jaime when the buses departed "Anyway," he said and it had the definite tone of a topic change, "Where are you going to watch the meteor shower?"

"Huh?" Jaime asked before he remembered the announcement that the AP Biology teacher had made about there being a meteor shower Saturday night and it being mandatory that all the AP Biology students watch it, "Oh, I was planning on going out of town and camping."

"Wow." Bart was going to suggest that Jaime come over and watch it from his house but that sounded so much cooler, "Do you have a tent?"

Jaime smiled sentimentally, "Yeah. My dad and I used to go camping a lot."

He looked at Bart and recognized the look in his eyes; he had worn that same look when his dad had first gone camping without him. Bart wanted to go with him, and, he realized, he wanted Bart to go with him too.

"Do you want to, uh, come? There's enough room in the tent for two." Jaime offered and saw Bart's bright green eyes light up and a open-mouth grin take his face.

"CRASH!" Bart exclaimed and-"Oof!" Jaime grunted as Bart suddenly hugged him. Jaime smiled fondly when the initial shock had disintegrated. Little did he know two pairs of ice-blue eyes were jealously watching the exchange.

"Whoa, easy hermano." he wiggled his arms out of the auburn's grip and gently pushed at his shoulders until they were a _manly_ distance apart.

"Heh," Bart looked up at him in a suddenly bashful way that was cute, even to Jaime, "So when do I come over?"

"How about five, that's when I plan on heading out anyways."

"Crash!" then a thought struck him, "How are we gonna get the tent and stuff-"

"I have a driver's license hermano."

"Really?" Interesting.

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Bart shuffled his feet on the Reyes family's welcome mat, "Bienvenidos!" it read. He repositioned the duffel bag on his shoulder. He didn't know what he was supposed to bring camping so he'd asked his grandparents and they'd said to take a pillow, flashlight, blankets, a change of clothes, and food and he'd be good. He didn't know if things had changed since their time but it was the only advice he had to go by so it was that or nothing. He had even bought three bags of chicken whizees for the trip.

He reached for the doorbell and his hand was practically vibrating with excitement as he pushed it and heard the classic ding-dong followed by the tell-tale "Coming!"

This time it was Milagro, "Hola!" she greeted cheerfully, "Jaime is-" "Right here!" he spoke over as he appeared behind her, keys in his right hand and smile in place as he ruffled her hair. She swatted at him but he laughed as she playfully pushed him.

"Mom!" He called into the house, "We're leaving now!"

"Okay, have fun!" his mom responded from what seemed to be the laundry room.

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Jaime had the radio playing on a station that only occasionally played mainstream songs. It was nice riding with Jaime, the car had all the windshields rolled down and when a song came on that they recognized Jaime would unconsciously sing along to it, his voice seductively dipping in and out of his accent. Bart was content with either singing along or listening to Jaime.

"So," Bart started and Jaime glanced at him before turning the music down enough for it to still be background music but just enough so that Bart didn't have to raise his voice to speak, "Uh, do you have anyone in mind for the homecoming dance?" Bart asked in the most casual voice he could manage. He felt stupid asking but he had to know.

"Nah." Jaime responded easily as he turned the steering wheel. That was a relief.

"Why not?" Bart asked, "I-mean, uhm, isn't there any girls at our school that are your type?"

Jaime glanced at Bart with an amused look before quickly returning his eyes to the road and a moment later turning the wheel again.

"My _type_" he said and his lopsided smile made Bart feel like a middle school girl with a crush instead of a mature, high school boy, "changes on a _person by person basis_." something about the way that Jaime said that made Bart want to curl his toes, maybe it was the exotic flick that Jaime gave it or maybe it was the burst of hope that the sentence gave but either way it made him stomach flip with glee.

"What about types that you don't like?" he inquired.

"Hmmm," Jaime hummed and Bart flicked his eyes to the window so that he didn't stare at Jaime; the nervous, hopeful, aching bubble in his stomach made it impossible for him to keep from showing the nervous I-have-a-crush-on-you look on his face.

"I guess," he finally answered, "I mean, there are certain people that I would never consider dating, like uh..." he paused, then, "Oh-like Tuppence." Bart's face pinched at the female Terror twin.

"Dude. That means practically nothing. _No one_ in our school likes her."

"Not true. Cameron seems pretty into her."

"Yeah and so does Tommy."

"That's sick."

"Then come up with a better example of what your type is-slash-isn't."

Jaime groaned and Bart felt a small thrill at the sound.

"Fine." He paused and collected his thoughts. He had talked about girls with Tye before but Tye was always interested in the physical, and that wasn't really Jaime's thing. Don't get him wrong. He liked a hot body as much as the next guy but he didn't want to be someone who looked at only the surface.

"I don't know. Someone who I can hang with and laugh about stuff with, watch movies with, and who doesn't mind that I switch to Spanish all the time...my last girlfriend didn't like that." he confessed.

Bart found himself smiling uncontrollably as he stared out the passengers window. He fit all of those.

"What's with the sudden interest in my love life?" Jaime broke him from his reverie.

Sufficiently pleased still Bart looked at Jaime and couldn't hide the blunt adoration held in his eyes, lucky for him though Jaime had to keep his own eyes on the road and couldn't see the way Bart was contentedly staring.

"Curiosity." He answered simply, a grin taking his lips.

"Alright," Jaime allowed, "What about you? Any love interest for Bart Allen?"

"There is someone..." Bart was smiling impishly as he said this.

"Yeah? Who is she?"

_You._

If Jaime could look at him he'd see who Bart was talking about. Jaime kept his face casual as he asked but there was something unsettling about the thought of Bart having a crush on someone. He didn't know why but his stomach felt at unrest.

"It's someone who is attractive, fun to hang out with, smarter than they know," Bart listed each of these things with a raised finger, "kind of shy, brave, kinder and more gentle than anyone I know, and super caring."

Jaime glanced at Bart but the teen was smiling to the window again, "You're not going to tell me who it is, are you?"

"Nope. Only two other people know and if I had my way even they wouldn't know."

"Well, while we're putting our hearts out on the table, I guess I can admit that I used to have a crush on Barbara Gorden, ya know, before she got a boyfriend."

"Barbara Gorden?" Bart checked his mental file of student names and drew a blank on her, "Who's that?"

"Do you know that red-head senior on our cheerleading team? Best friends with Gar's older sister?"

"Oh." Bart felt his heart sink before he realized-red-head, "Does that mean you have a thing for red-heads?" he asked daringly, secretly hopeful.

"Uhh." Jaime glanced at Bart and saw a strange look in the auburn's eyes that made his stomach feel weird, "I don't know. I haven't had many crushes." he felt like he was fumbling for words, "I mean, I had one girlfriend and she was a brunette."

"What was she like? What happened between you and her?" Bart asked curiously.

Jaime smiled fondly, "Heh, she was always gloomy. Sighed at everything and thought the world was dull." a slight frown replaced his smile, "Her dad didn't exactly approve of her dating an average guy like me. Guess I didn't fit the lawyers-and-doctors-only requirement. He broke us up. The next summer they moved to New York and last I heard she's already a business intern." Jaime shrugged, "But that's all in the past, right?"

"Yeah." Bart answered automatically. His buzz from earlier sufficiently killed.

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.

The light was already dimming outside when Jaime parked the car. Bart hadn't noticed that he'd dozed off until the older teen shook him lightly, "Grab your bag." he commanded and unbuckled his own seatbelt before leaving the auburn to follow behind a moment later.

"So," Bart rubbed at his eyes and looked back. They were parked in a tiny, desolate, parking lot that had weeds growing in the cracks of the asphalt. He looked at his surroundings and noticed there were some trees and a large cliff nearby. Literally, they were in the middle of nowhere. "Is this it?" he didn't know what he was expecting but this wasn't exactly it.

Jaime chuckled, "There's a trail. Just follow me." his smile made it easy for Bart to take any command given. Bart waited as Jaime went around back and grabbed the tent bag and his own duffel bag, which he slung across his torso, while he held the heavy-looking bag in his right hand.

"Here, I'll help with that." Bart reached to grab the bag but Jaime jerked it from his reach.

"I got this." he gave a smile that showed his teeth a little, "Here," he handed Bart his sleeping bag that had his pillow tied to it and a small icebox. It was light and easy. Bart wanted to help carry the heavy stuff but he couldn't bring himself to argue with that smile. So he just followed behind dumbly as they started up a dirt path. The path was narrow and more grass-non-grass than he would like and the fact that it dispersed into different trails made him hope that Jaime knew exactly where they were going.

Jaime was silent as he led the younger teen through the old trail in dimming light. The only sounds to be heard were the rustling of grass around them and crunch of dry grass and dirt beneath their shoes. The silence wasn't suffocating or awkward like some were but was instead pleasant and calm; it was comfortable. But, talking and being social was an Allen family trait that Bart had received, so after about five minutes the silence was unceremoniously broken.

"So-do you have dinner in that duffel bag?"

"Don't worry. You won't starve." Jaime promised and they returned to their comfortable silence.

Jaime didn't know what was wrong with him. He couldn't talk to the younger teen without thinking about it. And he'd thought about it the whole ride up, and it was distracting. Bart. That's what. That was what was so distracting. He didn't know what was going on with his mind but ever since Bart had confessed that he liked someone Jaime's mind has been churning in a myriad of emotions that left him ultimately confused. He didn't know what was going on or why he was feeling so unrightfully-it can only be described as-jealous. Jealous. The word sent his stomach plummeting to the bottom of the sea and made him want to flee from the source of it.

_Friends_ didn't feel jealous, which had made Jaime consider something he never thought he'd ever consider before.

On the ride over while Bart snoozed he had analyzed his actions over the past few weeks since meeting Bart and realized that there were some moments that he had noticed things about Bart that weren't normal-like the shape of his lips for a perfect example. He'd even thought upon a few occasions that Bart was _cute_, surely that wasn't a normal thought for a male to have towards another. He thought of the strange protectiveness he had towards the younger teen; though the pragmatic side of him ruled that such was a side effect of seeing Conner harass Bart. It was only natural to be more protective after that, right? Of course.

Or, his seventeen-year-old mind argued, the fact that you want to put your arm around him every time you sit together might be a warning flag.

He'd felt a nagging feeling growing in his subconscious these past weeks that he had ignored before but now he brought under close scrutiny. He knew this feeling well despite only feeling it once before. It was how he had first felt before he'd asked out his previous girlfriend. It was a problem.

Jaime took a deep breath in his nose and let it out slowly through his mouth as he guided Bart through the taller grass and into the path that led towards a slight upward sloping which would slope harder in the future. It had gotten darker, he noted vacantly.

He had hoped to arrive at the spot before nightfall but it seemed like they'd left too late. Not that it was much farther though...

Jaime didn't think he was gay (he liked girls way too much for that) but was he bisexual-or at least attracted to Bart? Maybe.

Jaime had grown up in a very open-minded, loving family and though he wasn't about to drive home and announce to his sister and mom that he was starting to wonder if he was bisexual, he also knew that his family wouldn't reject him if he did make such an announcement.

The worse part of this wasn't facing the possibility-though that was hard too-it was the doubt and second guessing. How could he know if he was experiencing friendship or attraction?

Attraction was physical: so the question was did he want to have sex with-

Jaime definitely wasn't prepared for that thought.

Okay, he reorganized his thoughts, maybe that was too far.

Did he want to kiss Bart?

Jaime thought about it and couldn't come up with an answer.

Deciding to rearrange the question he asked himself; would he _like_ it if he kissed Bart?  
He tried to imagine it. He saw himself next to Bart just talking like always, then he dipped his head in closer and the auburn's excited chatter hushed as green orbs widened. Jaime closed the distance slowly and the green orbs half-lidded in anticipation. He saw the auburn waiting for him to close the distance, then he saw himself taking the smaller boy's soft lips against his own. Jaime was going to end it there but his imagination decided a walk was too slow and it sprinted to Jaime sucking the auburn's neck and eliciting moans from the willing green-eyed teen. The auburn was calling his name with shallow breathes and Jaime was answering those calls with gentle sucking and teasing flicks of his tongue.

The nervous flip in his stomach and slight jump in his temperature told him yes; yes he would like that. Even further, he might even _want_ that. Jaime forced the fantasy out of his mind before it went too far.

When his mind was cleared he realized that they were almost at the spot he had chosen for star-viewing.

"We're almost there." he had to force his voice to function and it came out sounding strained to him. He hid it though by clearing his throat right afterwards, "Careful of the tree branch." he commented as he ducked under the outstretched wooden arm.

Bart silently followed.

Before he was able to think about it any more they were there. He didn't know if he was relieved about that or not...

Bart looked around as the slight sloping suddenly stopped and the trees cleared to reveal a giant half circle shaped around flat, level ground. He squinted his eyes to see around through the now dark air. He could see the whole sky from here, the trees had cleared out and offered a distanced comfort. Bart looked up to the sky and his eyes widened in wonder. This far from the city he could see stars that he'd never seen before. He wondered what it had been like for young Jaime to come here as a child with his father. He looked around the dirt and pebbles as if the past was written in them. Of course it wasn't; only some boulders unnaturally surrounding some smaller boulders which were lined in a fire pit were the proof that this land had even been touched by man.

A light beamed past him and Bart looked back to see Jaime struggling to lay the tent out, flashlight now tucked under a armpit and awkwardly pointed towards his work.

"Hey, ayudame por favor." Jaime called without looking towards Bart. (help me please)

"You do realize I have no clue what you just said right?" Bart started walking towards the Latino, who was smiling craftily.

"Yeah but I still get my way." he was grinning and even in the flashlight's scattered rays Bart could make out the teasing glint in his eyes.

Bart grabbed one side of the tent and the rest of their conversation dissipated into Jaime pointing and telling Bart what he had to do. It was almost an hour later that the small, barely big enough for two people, tent was pitched up correctly (after many failed attempts). After it was pitched the two threw their sleeping bags and pillows in to be set up later.

It was pitch black by then and the stars were all present. The distant mountains were blurred shadows against the velvet-black of the sky.

Jaime leaned down and picked up the flashlight that had been placed down while they were setting the tent.

"So, how long until the sky starts falling on us?" he began to walk towards the circle of small boulders that made up the potential fire pit. It had larger, flattish boulders circles around it for makeshift seats.

Bart looked at his phones time and did the math aloud, "It's ten now and he said that it would start around one, so three hours."

Jaime poked at ashes in the pit with a stick that he'd picked up, "Well." Jaime poked again as his face, shadowed in night as it was, stared pensively, "...I'll start a fire. Can you get the hot dogs out of the icebox?"

Bart nodded, then when he realized that Jaime couldn't see it he quickly corrected himself to verbally saying yes.

Half an hour later they were huddled around the contained fire with metal sticks slowly twirling to evenly cook their dinner. The sun had completely disappeared long ago and the temperature had dropped with its disappearance. The fire was their only source of light and heat, the flickering flame casting eerie silhouettes on the closer tree trunks.

"Uhh...this could take a while." Jaime mumbled as he turned his shishkabobed hot dog for what must have been the hundredth time.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Bart pushed his hot dog closer to the fire, orange flames now licking at the mixed meat.

"So..." Bart drawled after a second, "How are we going to pass the time?"

"Favorites game?" Jaime suggested.

"Alright." Bart consented.

"Favorite fruit?" an awkward question to start but Bart could tell this was going to be fun.

"Pineapple." he answered.

"Apple." Jaime answered readily, "Favorite song?"

"Currently? Um...'Zero', Varsity Fanclub."

"I thought you'd have better taste than that," Jaime shook his head disapprovingly and tsked at him, "Apocalyptica's 'Not Strong Enough'."

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.

.

Two hours into the game it was almost time for the meteor shower to begin.

As could be expected from two hours time of talking about their favorite things they learned a lot of things about each other.

Bart loved science, loved all types of music except rap, hated waiting in lines, loved cherry ice-cream, hated watching sports, loved swings, hated raisins, and wanted a big dog.

Jaime loved roller skating almost as much as skateboarding, hated rodents, loved the beach, hated hospitals and needles to the point of phobia, loved super sweet food, his favorite animal was a wolf or tiger, his favorite flower was bromilliad (a cactus flower), and his favorite smell was vanilla.

Bart had been on the track team for a few years in middle school and had won gold before he went to high school and decided not to rejoin, when he was little his parents used to make up stories for him at bedtime about superheroes and villains, and when he first moved in with his grandparents he didn't know them that great.

Jaime hated the rain because his socks always got wet, had watched every Disney movie ever made when he was little, had never joined any sports, and almost always went to his little sisters soccer games.

They weren't sure if there was much else to learn by the time that it was almost time for the meteors to fall. Bart was the one to interrupt the game and announce that they should start looking up at the sky.

"Welp," Bart popped the 'p', "It's about time. Shouldn't we lay down or something?"

"Yeah." Jaime agreed and reached behind his boulder-seat and produced a cushiony looking blanket big enough for a mattress.

"What's-" but Bart's question was answered by Jaime snapping the blanket out and spreading it down on the ground. Jaime motioned for Bart to lay down and the auburn complied, slowly walking over and sitting down before laying back and looking up at the night sky. His green eyes watched as Jaime went back towards the fire and a second later the fire was smothered by dirt.

"Why'd you-?"

"We'll see better without the fire." Jaime answered before Bart even needed to finish the question. Once he was sure the fire was out he headed back towards the blanket and took his place right beside Bart, their shoulders down to their pinkies touching.

It was a new moon and with the fire gone Bart only had the star's light to depend on. He felt Jaime more than saw him. It was deafly silent as they stared up with wonder at the number of stars blanketed over the night sky.

Jaime took a deep breath as the first short jet of light sped across the diamonds and velvet-black sky. He smiled fondly as he saw the shadow of Bart's arm rise instantly to point at where the star had been, "Did you see that?" he whispered excitedly.

"Yup." another one shot across, "Another one." he pointed also.

Bart's mouth opened in wonder and his eyes widened and scanned the sky greedily, trying to predict where the next one would appear. Jaime stared languidly at the sky as his mind relaxed. He silently appreciated the view before him and the memories it would later be.

The meteor shower began to pick up as more and more blazing balls of light fell into the abyss.

"Aren't we supposed to make a wish?" Bart whispered.

"Alright, so what are you going to wish for?" Jaime turned his face toward the auburn.

Bart was conscious that Jaime was now looking at him and he knew if he turned his head too he could kiss Jaime so easily, almost as if it were an accident. Maybe he could even play it off as one. He chuckled nervously as he remembered he needed to answer Jaime.

"Sorry, but I want this one to come true." his voice was trembling in a weird funny-nervous way as he said that.

A smile tugged at the corner of Jaime's lips as he turned his eyes skyward again, "Yeah."

Another shooting star crossed the sky, this one's tail long and bright. Bart closed his eyes quickly and made his wish. He remembered one time when he and his parents had been in the backyard looking for shooting stars. His father, who back then had his natural hair color other than the pepper grey that would come later when Bart started his teen years, had told young, nine-year-old Bart, that if he wanted his wish to come true he couldn't ask for anything unrealistic. Young Bart had been offended by the limitation and demanded to know why he couldn't ask for big things. His mother who had been standing behind them chuckled softly, in her sweet motherly voice, and said that shooting stars have only short lives and can only grant wishes as long as their tail.

So Bart didn't ask for a miracle; just a hint.

When he opened his eyes again the star was gone, burned out into Earth's atmosphere, it glowing streak and lingering trail faded into the black abyss of night.

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.

Bart shivered as the cold got the best of him. They'd been out there for more than an hour now and the night cold had slowly sapped the heat from the left side of this body; the other side of him being warmed by Jaime's side. Bart moved his arm away from the dark-skinned boy and started rubbing at the exposed, now stinging with numbness, skin of his left arm in an effort to warm it up.

Jaime was snapped from his reverie by the sudden movement of the body beside him. He turned his head towards the source of the disturbance and saw the smaller teen rubbing at his arm for heat. Jaime felt a small flutter of affection and protectiveness and without though lifted his arm and wrapped it behind the younger teen's head (to which the auburn automatically lifted his head in confusion at the contact) and in one smooth movement tucked his arm under the teen's head and, along with pulling him closer, began rubbing at the cold skin.

Somehow to Jaime it didn't seem unnatural or strange to share his warmth like this; he had excess heat and Bart was cold.

Bart's reaction was initially shock. He didn't know how to interpret the action. From the look on Jaime's face (his eyes had adjusted well in the dark) it was a thoughtless and casual action to the handsome teen.

Bart's mind was running a thousand miles an hour as his heart went into cardiac arrest. Jaime was straight! He didn't think he'd do something like that! This was a dangerous position for Bart. Jaime was so tempting. No one else could have done that so naturally. He was an innate seducer, it was the only explanation.

Bart forcefully settled the nervousness in his stomach and looked up at the stars. After a while a blissful sigh escaped Bart's lips, barely audible and missed by Jaime, but answered by the wind that caressed their skin and allowed Bart to burrow a little closer to Jaime.

Well, he had asked for a hint and he got a slap to the face. There was no way this wasn't a sign. But for tonight he would just enjoy Jaime's friendship. Tomorrow onward he would work on changing Jaime's way of viewing him. He would start to make Jaime notice him like _that_. He might have to ask for Gar's help a little more now that Zatanna was at war...

The soft scent of cactuses, ashes, nature, night, and Jaime pushed all future thoughts out of Bart's head and made him focus on the present. A very pleasant present.

Jaime, meanwhile, felt conflicting confusion as his body told him that he liked this, that he liked Bart being so close beside him. He _liked_ this. And that scared him. Jaime was intimidated by this feeling that was threatening to crush his sanity and push him to do things that he feared would lead him to heartbreak. He didn't know how to react or what to do when he had pulled Bart towards himself. He didn't know if he had a right to be confused like this and happy like this when Bart had no clue what he was thinking.

Dios mio. Bart. What is going on?


	10. Chapter 10: First seduction

**Hey guys! If you haven't had a chance yet to review go ahead and do it at the end of the chapter! I've been lazy on my disclaimers but you all know I don't own Young Justice or the characters. I only own the story I write. **

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**Chapter ten:**

Jaime stared up at the stars above him. His chest was heavy and light and squeezing and fluttering all at once in a painful collision that left him confused at his own body's reactions. He was happy. No he was scared. No. He didn't know what he was. His heart and mind were tearing him apart and he didn't know which one possessed his true thoughts anymore.

To put it bluntly he was whelmed, no, he was overwhelmed; the flurry of emotions that cascaded down on him and surfaced and bobbed back down and drifted on the surface all left him reeling for escape from his own emotions. He couldn't tell if he hated it, loved it, feared it, wanted it, or if it was good or bad. He just knew he was confused and Bart was not helping. Heck, Bart was the source.

Jaime used his free hand to rub at his face in frustration. His other hand was busy being weighted down by a sleeping boy with soft auburn hair which tickled the curve of Jaime's neck. A sleeping boy with a cute nose that was being nuzzled into said neck at that very moment. Jaime suppressed the shiver that fought to run through him when Bart's lips brushed against his skin. He hated these reactions. They complicated things. Jaime didn't want to ruin his friendship and he didn't want to deal with his own body's hormonal reactions. Just because he was attracted to Bart was no reason to go losing his cool. Mierda, just thinking it so casually made Jaime feel at unease as if the sleeping boy would hear his thoughts if he were to think them too loud.

Jaime draped his arm over his eyes and wished it all away. Wished away his confusion and Bart's gravitational pull.

"Mierda." Jaime cursed, I'm screwed if I do, screwed if I don't...

Jaime sighed deeply.

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The sound of footsteps thumping dully in the dirt made Jaime alert that someone was approaching. Before he could even open his eyes though a boot tapped against his arm.

"Hey, kid, wake up." the foot's owner commanded.

Jaime made a show of yawning before he opened his eyes, it was hard to tell from his position what the woman looked like but he could see she was wearing a ranger's uniform; black hiking boots and a dark green uniform with a matching dark green cap.

"Yes ma'am?" Jaime rubbed the sand out his eyes and the woman's faintly Asian looking eyes narrowed a little in impatience or maybe it was irritation, he didn't really know.

"Wake up your boyfriend too." she commanded with a pointed look towards Bart, who Jaime now realized had his arm draped around his waist and his head pillowed on his chest. Jaime's face instantly flushed in embarrassment.

"We're not-" he tried to amend but a slight narrowing of her eyes shut him up. She obviously didn't want to hear it. He quickly followed her order and shook Bart's shoulder whispering, "Psst, _hermano_, wake up." holding back the pleading 'please' that he wanted to say.

Bart woke up a little less gracefully, squeezing Jaime a little tighter before opening his eyes slowly, then quickly and widely when he saw the ranger. His face saying for itself the shock that the stranger's presence was. He blenched and struggled to regain composure.

"This area isn't for camping." she stated in her husky, exasperated voice. Jaime wanted to stand up and talk to her eye to eye but Bart had neglected to move his arm, thus successfully pinning him down.

"We didn't know." Jaime said sincerely. In all the times that he'd gone camping with his father he'd never had trouble, "Has it always been?"

The ranger looked like she had taken his question the wrong way, if the slight scowl on her face was anything to go by, and was about to respond back angrily. Before she could though Jaime quickly clarified, "It's just that I used to go camping here with my dad."

The scowl was smoothed away by the clarification and she sighed like she understood but was still exasperated, "Two years ago some tree-huggers came here howling that an endangered insect lives here." It was with complete disdain that she told this, her face mildly irritated as she continued, "They raised hell and the state lost two miles worth of potential land."

"Wow...that's uh...something."

The ranger rolled her stormy grey eyes, "Yeah." then "Can you stand up so that I can talk to you?" He almost thought she was irritated until he saw the corner of her lip turned up.

"Yes ma'am." Jaime duly responded and Bart removed his arm this time, allowing Jaime to stand and see the ranger for the first time from a normal angle. She was beautiful he noted with amazement. An attractive face, full lips, sharp stormy grey eyes, long soft looking blonde hair pulled into a ponytail below the dark green ranger hat, and the killer body of a mature athletic woman.

He saw her smirk and he knew he had been caught staring.

"Listen, I'm not gonna get either of you in trouble okay?" her husky voice was a lot more attractive when she was friendly sounding.

"Thank you ma'am."

Bart was getting up to stand behind him.

"Quit calling me ma'am though." she sounded amused, "You're not much younger than me, just call me Artemis." she held out her hand.

"Artemis." Jaime repeated, it was a unique name; beautiful and exotic sounding. He took her soft hand in his own callous one and greeted her properly, "I'm Jaime Reyes."

She smiled cunningly, smirk still ghosting across her full lips, "Nice to meet you Jaime, and..." her eyes drifted to the boy standing behind him.

"Bart." he provided and offered his hand also, "Bart Allen."

Recognition crossed her face, "Are you related to Barry Allen?"

"You know my uncle?" Bart's eyebrows knit together in surprise.

The ranger, Artemis, laughed now, "Well," she chuckled lightly, "This is unexpected."

"Uh..." Bart's eyebrows were still together as the confusion on his face grew.

"I'm dating Wally." she stated and though that meant nothing to Jaime it made Bart's eyes widen with realization.

"Artemis!" he clicked the name with a conversation that he'd had months ago with his cousin.

Jaime watched in bewilderment as the two became animated and wrapped up into conversations of family and Wally. Slowly he pieced together that Wally was Bart's cousin through the conversation, but after hearing names of so many people that he didn't recognize he just gave up and absently listened.

.

.

.

"-and that's why he has a fear of clowns." Artemis said as the group got to the Reyes family car with all their baggage in tow.

Bart chuckled sinisterly, "I can't believe all the dirt I've got on Wally now."

Jaime smiled as they all placed their items into the trunk and backseat.

"Yeah well he needs to get a kick to his ego every now and then." she had a wicked grin on her face as she shoved the sleeping bag in with the rest.

Jaime closed the trunk and they all turned to face each other, "Well I'm sorry about having to kick you guys out." she seemed to be genuinely apologetic.

"It's no biggie." Bart waved his hand, "Besides, meeting you was totally crash."

Artemis smiled and threw her thumb over her shoulder, "Well, my bikes there so as soon as you two leave I can leave." she had pointed to a black and green Kawasaki ninja.

"Wow. Nice motorcycle." Jaime complemented.

"It gets me from point A to B." she said modestly.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Bart." she said to him then turned to Jaime, and continued to _him_ now "I expect to see you again at the family reunion this month, got it?" her alluring grin made that question sound friendly and slightly hopeful.

"Family reunion?" Bart inquired. Apparently he hadn't heard about it.

"Yeah, in a couple of weeks. It's at Barry's house."

"Huh. They hadn't said anything to me."

"You're staying with Jay and Joan right?" she addressed his grandparents by their first names.

"Yeah." he chirped back.

"Their invitation should come this weekish. Last year they told us to send invite by mail to them." she chuckled at a memory as she shook her head.

Bart chuckled because that did seem so them, "I getcha. Okay."

As they were driving off Artemis waved her hand and called out, "Bart! Don't forget to bring your boyfriend!"

.

.

.

When they got to Bart's home Jaime was stunned.

"Whoa hermano." he stared through the car window in a slight daze at the large two story building before him; it looked like it had come straight out of an all-American catalog from the 1950s. Perfect white fence, check. Light blue painting with painted white window frames, check. Walkway leading up to front door through perfectly mowed and kept grass, check. Flower garden on either sides of the front door, check. Garden gnome, check.

"Yeah. Just wait until you get inside." Bart said bashfully as he opened the passenger car door.

The inside, Jaime realized, was exactly what could be expected. It felt like he was on the set of a 1950s family show. The dining room table had a white table cloth over it. The TV was a box that looked like it was at least fifty years old. There was a Turkish rug thrown over the carpet in the living room. The clocks, ceiling fans, coffee table, couch, and lamps all looked retro. There was even an American flag hanging on the hallway wall. The only newer looking things Jaime could immediately see were the lazyboy chairs facing the TV, and even they looked like they were from the '80s.

"Wow. And these are people with only modern movies?" it seemed impossible that people who were so stuck in the past wouldn't have movies from then.

Bart chuckled nervously beside him and Jaime realized that it seemed impossible because it _was_ impossible.

"Actually," Bart chuckled nervously, "I had to get you to invite me over somehow." he said by way of explanation.

Jaime's mouth gaped open for a fraction of a second, "You..." lied. Jaime shook his head and felt like laughing, so he did. An almost lunatic, hysterical laugh.

"Before we get any closer, is there anything else you want to fess up to?" he said when his laughs had dissipated to chuckles.

"My grandparents aren't here right now." Bart deadpanned in all seriousness, then, "And I think my cousin will be merciless if I don't bring you to the reunion. Artemis is going to tell Wally all about today and he'll want to see you too."

Jaime chuckled, "Is that an invite?"

"Yes?" Bart grinned precariously.

"Well I accept," Jaime said benevolently, "but you owe me food." he finished sternly, making a grin spread across Bart's lips.

"CRASH! GositinthelivingroomwhileIma kefood!" then he zoomed off towards the kitchen in a flash.

.

.

.

Quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right?

Right.

Bart was standing in the middle of Joan's kitchen with chocolate and flour covering him. He wasn't sure how it'd gotten there in the first place but he hardly cared.  
I hope this works, he thought as he reached inside the oven with pot holders and pulled out the tray of hot brownies.

The telltale ding of an oven timer alerted Jaime that Bart was done with whatever he was making in the kitchen. He got up from the patterned couch he'd been sitting in and wandered over towards where the kitchen was.

Jaime recognized the smell as soon as he walked into the kitchen; brownies, his favorite.

Bart watched Jaime make a straight line for the brownies he'd just set on the counter and executed his plan.

"You can't eat those yet." he declared, "They need to cool down." Bart hopped onto the kitchen counter next to Jaime and grabbed the bowl he'd used to mix the brownies in.

Jaime pouted his lower lip and gave Bart the strongest puppy eyes he'd ever seen.

Bart would have given in if he wasn't on a mission. His eyes momentarily traveled to those pouting lips, so perfect and alluring. He had to force himself to say no by mutely shaking his head, his eyes reconnected with Jaime's.

The hungry brown orbs dimmed with disappointment until they spotted the bowl in Bart's hand and they rekindled.

Bart pretended to be oblivious to his friend's hunger-lust eyes as he swiped some brownie batter onto his finger and licked it off-slowly, making sure to be a little messy. He saw Jaime's eyes drift to the chocolate at the corner of his mouth, which he'd left there.

This was the most seductive thing Bart could think of. The fact that he was using Jaime's personal brand of kryptonite was an effective additional touch.

But when he saw Jaime's eyes hungrily focus on his lips Bart could feel his own heart flutter hopelessly. He was supposed to be seducing Jaime and here he was being seduced. Jaime unconsciously licked his lips and Bart's eyes darted to the smooth muscle before he returned them upward where his soft chocolate-brown eyes were drawing the younger teen into them.

Jaime was too attractive. Bart was hopeless against those attractive features. From his dark, smooth black hair that matched so well with his mocha colored skin to his chocolate-brown eyes that could captivate Bart for weeks. He could spend forever staring at those gentle orbs which promised warmth and comfort and tenderness. His eyes which were so kind and caring. They were friendly and inviting and trusting. They promised all Bart could ask for and some. Eyes which, at that moment, were staring at him very hungrily, and oh how he wished they would always stare at him like that. Hungrily.

Jaime was seductive just standing there.

Not to mention the exotic flare he spoke with when he switched to Spanish or when he was flustered. Bart could spend the rest of his life listening to Jaime speak Spanish and have no complaints despite not understanding a word.

It was all Bart could do to not jump the innately seductive teen right then and there.

Jaime watched as his friend continued to scoop batter onto his finger then lick it off. There was just a hint of chocolate on the corner of his lip he noticed.

This is by far the most seductive thing I can think of, Bart thought as he smiled teasingly. If Jaime doesn't at least-

Then the Latino reached out and swiped the chocolate from the corner of the auburn's lip, bringing it to his own and smiling as he tasted it. All the vocabulary Bart might have possessed was thrown out the window when he heard Jaime softly moan at the taste.

"Okay hermano, that is seriously good. Give me the bowl." Bart knew full well that brownies and brownie batter was Jaime's weakness, but when Jaime made a grab for it Bart still used his quick reflexes to pull it out of reach.

He dipped two fingers in the same manner as before and, little messier than before, he brought the chocolaty goodness to his lips and slowly licked it off. He felt the chocolate smudge on his cheek and chin. He cleaned his fingers off and waited to see Jaime's next move.

The Latino stepped closer and repeated the action from before, "You're messy." he commented as he licked the chocolate off his own fingers.

Bart felt his heart flutter painfully as he watched Jaime and it took all his sanity to not push the Latino against the wall and kiss him until they were both breathless.  
Bart could only nod dumbly because, honestly, he couldn't use his voice right then even if he wanted to.

Bart swiped more brownie batter and this time he kept eye contact with Jaime as he licked chocolate off of his hand. He watched Jaime watch him, his lips, his fingers.

Jaime didn't move any closer but he also didn't move away, and that was all the encouragement Bart needed.

Bart let his tongue dart out, Jaime bit his lip.

He was so intoxicating, Bart thought. Everything Jaime did made Bart feel uncomfortably hot. Here he was doing the most seductive thing he could think of and Jaime was the one seducing him. Bart just melted under Jaime's flinty gaze. Jaime was consuming his soul and he didn't even know it. At that moment all he wanted was to grab the taller teen by the collar and jerk him closer until he could taste the chocolate on Jaime's lips. It took all he had to not-

"Do you think they're done now?" Jaime said without breaking the eye contact, his voice coming out breathy and almost strained sounding.

"Yeah." Bart whispered back breathlessly.

Neither of them moved for a minute, each staring at the other and wondering what had just happened. Jaime let out a shallow breath and stepped back slowly, still maintaining the eye contact. Bart felt the absence of the older teen instantly and wanted to pull Jaime back and wrap his arms around him so that he couldn't get away again but reasoning made he just watch as Jaime moved away. Jaime coughed before stepping to the side and cutting himself out a piece.

"I, Uh, should go home and stuff." he said as he gestured to the kitchen exit.

All Bart could do was nod. He wondered if he'd ever regain the ability of speech.

He watched as Jaime took a bite of the brownie he'd cut out and moaned with closed eyes, "Wow. These are amazing Bart." he praised, "Thanks for the brownies." he waved before exiting.

Bart remained on the kitchen counter wondering what had just happened, bowl still held loosely in his hands.

It was killing Bart. He didn't know how they could have that and yet nothing. But, this was definitely progress he thought as he vacantly grabbed a spoon and scooped up some more batter.

.

.

.

Jaime closed the door to his car a little harder than he needed to. He buckled his seatbelt and stuck the keys into the car without turning them. He then pounded his hands against the steering wheel repeatedly, biting back frustrated groans. What was _that_?!

He banged his head against the steering wheel before numbly planting his face against it.

Bart had just looked so...tempting. Jaime groaned. Was that really the adjective he was going to use to describe his best friend? "Yes." because there was no other way of describing it. This was so not cool. Jaime rocked his head slowly back and forth on the wheel.

"Not okay." he groaned. On so many levels.

Jaime reached for the brownie and took another bite. Of course it was amazing. He didn't know why he would expect anything else.

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**For those of you who can't wait for the next chapter then I advise you review. Because, seriously, every review I get speeds me up and makes me write faster/more! So go ahead! REVIEW and MAKE MY DAY! And don't forget to press that follow button so that you can be informed when I post a new chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11: It won't work

**Sorry for the long wait guys. Writing my senior paper was cruel and unusual punishment that took up a lot of time collecting books, researching, etc. Anyway after much debate on whether or not to scrap this whole chapter I decided to go with it and it ended up being twice as long as my usual chapters so I cut it in two at a natural break. The next chapter should be up by Sunday with some encouragement. I still have to re-read it and edit. **

**Oh and I think the reviewer who said the car horn should have beeped and embarrassed Jaime in the last chapter earns some praise because I'd thought about that too but hesitated! Darn! Won't happen next time!**

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

That Monday after school with Zatanna and Gar they all decided they would start to record the video that was needed for the class.

Their first scene had decided to be them on the space ship, and after some careful consideration they had decided against building a set, routing to instead use a digital background.

Zatanna's father owned a magic shop and said that they could use it on Monday's when it was closed in the afternoons, so that would be their base of operations.

The teens walked into the shop and all but Zatanna oh'ed and awed the insides.

The first thing they saw was a large fortune-teller, the glass from the window ever so slightly discolored from the antiquity of it. The machine stood tall, the lights languidly flashing. The mechanics inside was a gypsy looking figure. Her glass eyes followed Bart and Jaime as they walked by. The inside of the shop had an eerie, mystical lighting from scattered candles, which made Bart think that he'd walked into a different dimension where magic actually exists. Beyond the hall the magic shop split into three directions, one up carpeted stairs and two to each side. Zatanna headed upstairs and as the others followed, their eyes searched around the downstairs for as long as possible.

When they went into the study Zatanna disappeared for a few seconds and returned with cups of tea held on a silver tray, Gar got his first and Jaime thanked her last as she set the tray down and sunk into the couch that was facing the lit fireplace.

This was obviously where all the magic and fortune-telling props were kept. Jaime could barely keep his eyes focused on one thing for a second before another contraption caught his interest.

"What's this?" he asked as he reached his hand out to touch a switch. He just heard Zatanna start the syllable to a word when cards started shooting out at rapid fire. Jaime jumped back with his arms spasming in surprise and defense.

"I'm sorry!" cards were shooting, descending, and covering the floor quickly, some of them gliding as far as the edge of the couch. Through Gar and Bart's laughter Zatanna could be heard sighing and saying "It's a card fountain."

"Sorry!" Jaime was flustered and Bart's ears perked up as they heard the accent slip through.

"Mierda. Lo siento. Voy a-I'll pick them up." Jaime stuttered as he awkwardly went for the cards which were covering the carpeted floor. In his fluster he didn't turn off the machine. So he was on the ground picking up cards while more were being shot out. A funny sight to say the least.

Gar laughed in hysterics but Bart's chuckles had quieted and moved in closer.

"Here." Bart began helping Jaime pick up the multiple decks of cards, squatting beside him, he felt a few cards fall on his back but left them until later.

"Gracias." Jaime glanced at the auburn, hating that he was conscious of Bart's every move now that he was aware of his feelings. And that little spike of happiness he got from Bart helping wasn't helping. Neither did the nervous bubble that melted his courage to a blob of goo.

"De nada mi amigo." Bart moved closer to reach for some cards just out of his reach. Jaime saw what he was reaching for and reached for it also. Just as their hands were about to make contact-

"Ow!" The two boys withdrew their hands quickly in surprise at the current that shot through them. They then noticed the card they were about to pick up was the Lovers card, sporting a man and woman naked with a heart-shaped sunset and nature around them. Needless to say Bart's face flushed crimson while Jaime's cheeks were slightly dusted with rosy coloring.

"Static electricity." Bart chuckled nervously as he looked anywhere but at Jaime, "Probably caused by the friction between our clothes and the carpet. Electrons moved from the carpet to us and-" oh gosh. He was rambling! He sounded so _stupid_. Of all the things he could be saying-why was he giving a lecture on static electricity?!

He was still explaining about protons and electrons, even as he thought about this. Bart couldn't stand to look at Jaime without fearing he'd switch to another science topic (chemistry or biology would be just as bad if not worse), so he focus his eyes on the ground and kept his hands busy picking up other cards, intentionally avoiding going for the Lovers card again.

Someone shut me up, Bart mentally cringed as he mindlessly babbled on autopilot, please.

Jaime's pleasant chuckle made Bart blink and it was just the force to still his awkward scientific stuttering.

"_Hermano._" he said between chuckles and it was all Bart could do to not shiver at the three syllables. Gosh he loved being called that. Or anything really-so long as Jaime said it.

"You're..." he shook his head. He was still chuckling that light, carefree chuckle that started in his throat and bubbled out and made Bart feel like he was turning into a bubble himself and he could be swept away by the slightest breeze. He loved that laugh. He wanted to hear it more often and it was only then that he realized that sure Jaime smiled a lot but he really should laugh more. Not that he doesn't do it enough; it's just that he should do it more.

Bart could stand to have more of _anything_ Jaime had to offer. Oh geez, he is _so_ not about to start thinking about the implications of that statement right now.

He noticed then that Jaime's eyes creased smaller when he laughed. He wondered if in the future he could make him laugh hard enough that his eyes would become crescents. He hoped so.

Bart blinked as his mind refocused, Jaime was staring at him with an amused look in his eyes and pulling at his lips.

"So-sorry." Bart quickly stuttered, oh gosh, he'd been staring hadn't he? "That was weird huh? I kind of just go into science as a default I guess. Habit I got from my uncle Barry."

Jaime's smile widened as Bart tried to scrap together his dignity.

The two teenage boys had long since forgotten their audience as they began picking up the cards again.

Jaime gave a short chuckle, "It's fine hermano," he placated, "it was kind of cute."

"Yea-yeah I gue-" then Bart's mind caught up with Jaime's words. "-ss." He just called him cute. Cute. Jaime Reyes had just said he thought Bart Allen was cute. CUTE! Bart coughed to hide the grin that was glued to his face at that moment but it couldn't be suppressed. Cute. Ohmygosh, hethinksI'mcute!

Gar was smiling, wickedly pleased as he watched the interaction. He had taken a risk but it seemed that his bet was going to pay off-and _M'gann_ was going to pay.

Jaime bumped Bart with his shoulder and they began laughing as they picked up the older teen's mistake.

While green eyes swam in merriment, ice-blue eyes were flaming in malice.

It was then that Zatanna realized Bart had gotten a head start. And she needed to tip the scales in her favor, but for that she needed help. Zatanna bit the bottom of her lip as she thought of who she could ask for advice.

.

.

.

M'gann squealed gleefully when she saw Zatanna waiting for her in the bleachers after her Tuesday morning cheerleading practice.

"Zee!" she practically floated up to her, her green eyes were bouncing happily, "What brings you here so early in the morning?" she asked after she skipped up the bleachers and pulled her friend into a strong hug.

"Hey M'gann." Zatanna naturally responded to the hug, lifting her arms up to hug the redhead back, "I need advice."

M'gann pulled back then and held her friend at arms length, an unusually stolid look taking the usually cheerful teen's face, "What happened?" She asked somberly and the intense loyalty to her friend couldn't be hidden.

Zatanna smiled meekly and then began to explain the whole situation, her confusion, and most of all her fear.

She explained the new revelations to her longtime friend who listened very placidly with a patience that would amaze most while Zatanna rambled on about the declaration and then what she saw in the shop.

M'gann nodded her head somberly at the end of it.

"I see." she vacantly said while touching her chin and staring at the bleachers below her. This was a problem, she thought. Her eyebrows knit together.

From what Zatanna had said Bart was now actively pursuing Jaime, and, apparently, he wasn't doing too bad. This meant there were two miscalculations in her original evaluation of them. The first being that she had judged Bart would never make a move-or if he did it would be too late.

But what could have rushed the timeline? She pondered. What could have-

Her brows pushed up.

Of course.

Gar!

And with this revelation came a rush of vain anger. They had set down a no-interference rule! And he had broken it!

Well, this wouldn't do, she thought pensively as she focused on the rocks and dirt she could see below the bleachers.

M'gann bit her bottom lip. Regardless of money, her friend liked Jaime and was asking for help. Zatanna needed her right now as a friend, and she needed to be there to _help_ not for personal gain.

She had started this whole mess, M'gann felt guilt roll through her. If she hadn't made that bet with Gar then Bart wouldn't even be a problem. She didn't know how to even mend the mess she'd made.

Bart couldn't have won yet, so she wasn't too late right? Time was the key.

"Hello M'gann!" she palmed her forehead quickly, "Just ask Jaime out after school." she looked at her friend expecting her epiphany to be met with a smile but instead received a head shake. Her friend's frown spread to her face.

"Bart's there." and that's all she needed to say. Nothing would work if Bart was there. They didn't know how they knew this; it had never been discussed but they'd both concluded that if Bart was around Zatanna wouldn't be able to get through to Jaime.

"How about..." she paused and kept paused for a few seconds before another idea struck her, "We could...no." she shook her head. No, that was a last resort if to be considered at all. Some serious damage could be made that way.

"What?" Zatanna asked curiously. She watched as doubt etched across her friends lightly freckled face.

M'gann shook her head though, silently rejecting the idea.

"Come on," Zatanna urged, "What were you going to say?"

M'gann bit her lower lip with hesitation before opening her mouth, "Well..." she drawled quietly, "I was going to say we could ask Connor to distract him...but that wouldn't be a good idea; I heard he hates Bart."

Oh course, Zatanna rolled her eyes. M'gann had a thing for Connor, the local bad boy. And although he didn't seem romantically interested in her yet, he did tolerate her-which was more than he did for most people. It was a strange relationship; Rio Grande's star student friends with the school bad boy. Stuff like that only happened in movies-and M'gann's world.

The last part of what she'd just said connected with Zatanna. And in a wonderfully horrible moment she realized: Connor hated Bart. Enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?

"Really?" Zatanna tried to sound uninterested but the cogs in her brain were already turning.

.

.

.

Zatanna walked through the sophomore hallways that Tuesday. Not her usual route but she had a purpose. Her heeled boots clinked under her with each strike they made to the hard, unmovable floor below them. Homecoming was Friday. Her mind was buzzing and focused on exactly what she was about to do. As her mind evaluated her options and possible dialogue she didn't notice the appearance of another presence.

"It's not a good idea." came a male voice from her side and Zatanna visibly flinched as she stopped in her tracks and looked to find Dick Grayson standing beside her with an intelligent smile.

"Excuse me?" she asked affronted as she gathered her wits.

"Asking Connor to help you. It won't work." he explained easily, his smile becoming teasing.

"That's not what I'm doing." she lied, giving Dick a severe glare. How'd he known anyway?

"I heard what M'gann said and now you're walking in the sophomore hallway for the first time ever, come on, it doesn't take a detective to put two and two together."

"What are you? A stalker?" she demanded, throwing a glare at him as she resumed her stride, attempting vainly to leave the little troll behind.

Dick Grayson chuckled, his deep, deep blue eyes flickering with a playful and mischievous glint. Zatanna felt her heart skip involuntarily as those blue eyes met hers and stared intensely into her own almost-matching eyes. But while her eyes were like ice, his blue eyes were entirely different she noticed; his were blue waters playfully swirling and caressing the sand, mischievously lashing at the rocks. His were deep and promised a seriousness and sincerity under the playful gestures. She hated it but he was making her heart beat faster.

His voice snapped her out of her momentary trance, "Hardly, I was sitting on those bleachers before you came around."

What were they talking about again? Oh, right. Her idea.

"So what makes you think it won't work?" she demanded, then to clarify, "I mean, me asking for Connor's help..."

Dick grinned teasingly and Zatanna felt her cheeks heat for some reason as he continued to grin teasingly and stare at her like that. Those damn eyes, she mentally snarled at their power over her. She was frowning even as she was drawn helplessly into their gravitational pull.

"Because I know people. You think you can get his help because of your mutual connection to M'gann who obviously has a crush on him. But what you don't know is that Connor won't help because he _thinks_ he likes Jaime."

He seemed so pleased with his observation. Zatanna didn't miss the odd emphasis. He was obviously baiting her and she knew it. She waited for him to continue but when he didn't she relented and with reluctance asked what she knew he was waiting for:

"What do you mean he _thinks_?"

The grin on the little trolls face doubled with triumph.

"Just that." he chirped and continued, "The truth is he wants to be friends with Jaime, but-" he made a dramatic pause, "-since he has about as much of a love life as a rock," this he said jokingly before returning to his all-knowing-detective-Dick-Grayson ramble, "-he misinterpreted his own desire to be closer to Jaime and thinks he likes him in a non-platonic way." Zatanna would have laughed then but the raven haired boy continued, "Plus, you don't really want to get involved in losing battle do you?"

Zatanna bristled at that, her defensive shields going up, "What do you mean 'losing'?"

Dick held his hands up placatingly, "Hey, I'm just warning you that Jaime already likes Bart. They both do. Just not out in the open yet." he seemed sincere as he continued, "I'm just trying to save you from heartbreak."

Despite her better instincts to hate the little twerp it was practically impossible, and that last sentence actually made her heart soften a little.

Then "Maybe you should find a new guy."

Zatanna didn't miss the meaning of that sentence, he was saying maybe she should like him instead. Somehow that only served to fuel her rage.

"Yeah well don't be so kind next time." she practically spat acid with how vitriolically she'd said that.

Dick Grayson's eyebrows rose in astonishment as she stomped away from his frozen form.

"Was it something I said?"

.

.

.

Zatanna heard the telltale cackle of Tim and knew she'd found her target.

She rounded the last corner and there they were, or rather _he_ was, since she only had use for one of them. Connor was standing in the hall in his usual black shirt and jeans attire. He had noticed Zatanna coming but had apparently chosen to ignore her. Tim was across from him leaning against the opposite wall, the smile he'd been sporting disappeared almost as soon as she'd entered the hall and his shaded eyes were staring (or at least she thought they were, it was hard to tell with sunglasses) straight at her. After a few moments Connor sighed histrionically.

Fiery ice-blue met with disgruntled ice-blue. Zatanna planted herself at the end of the hall, purposely staring at him.

"What do you want?" the cantankerous teen finally grunted when it became apparent that she wasn't just passing.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure." Connor waited for her to talk as he leaned against the locker, "We're talking right now."

"Alone." Zatanna deadpanned with a pointed look to Tim, who quickly opened his mouth to protest her request.

Connor shrugged though and slouched off the locker, "Be right back." he placated Tim as he sauntered over to Zatanna.

The second that they were in a certain pocket of hallway which was never visited he cut to the chase, "So what's this about?"

"I want a favor from you."

Connor only raised an eyebrow and she took this as encouragement to continue, "I need your help to get Bart away from Jaime." she saw a quirk of the corner of his lip. That gave her hope.

She thought she might have him as she continued more confidently, "Can you distract him after school for a while, or maybe -say- something to him?"

The quirk of his lip turned into a smirk and she smiled with triumph. She had him. Then-

Connor snorted, "You're kidding right?"

Her smile dropped the second she saw the sardonic glint in his eyes. She felt the ground shifting under her and knew that their positions of dominance had suddenly, drastically switched.

He leaned in and she held her shaky ground, not losing foot despite feeling intimidated, unsettled, and confused.

"Sorry, sugarqueen, but-" the nickname earned him an affronted glare from her and it was obvious he was all but sorry as he continued, "I'm not your pawn." He straightened back and glowered down at her, waiting for what he assumed would be an amusing reaction.

And she didn't disappoint as her eyes widened fractionally and her jaw gaped open flabbergasted.

Her position then quickly turned to insulted and she wanted to smack that stupid smirk off his smugly handsome face. How dare he!

Connor saw the narrowing of her eyes and felt the violent waves rolling off her; it just gave him a smug sort of satisfaction to know he'd gotten under her skin. He wasn't threatened in the least bit. It was like watching a kitten hiss; hardly fear-inducing and more cute than anything.

"You're going to have to find yourself another errand dog." He finished and crossed his arms over his broad, toned chest. Then just to get under her skin some more he added mockingly, "_Sugarqueen_."

He watched as she huffed an indignant breath before stomping off with barely contained anger. Her ridiculous heels applauding her exit.

Connor leaned back into the lockers as his mind started drinking in the newer information. Now Zatanna was after Jaime, and apparently she saw Bart as enough of a threat to want him out of the picture. He felt something tug at his heart and registered it as concern. His eyebrows knitted together and his frown deepened.

It seemed like a storm was heading towards Jaime, he thought with poorly concealed concern.

Connor pushed off the locker and began to walk back towards Tim with thoughts of helping Jaime swirling in his mind.

Connor may be a bully but even bullies had soft spots-and his was Jaime.

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**Sorry if this was boring to some of you guys but come on. I gave you Dick Grayson! You cannot tell me you don't love that~ I think I got his personality pretty good but I don't know, you guys tell me. Don't forget the usual. Read and review.**


	12. Chapter 12: Hotter than hell

**As promised here you go! I still don't own Young Justice or any of it's characters. Just what I write.**

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**Chapter 12:**

Whilst all this was going around in the background, in the forefront Jaime, Tye, and Bart were talking as per usual. Well, almost...

"What do you mean?" Jaime demanded as he held up his hands vertically in defense from the two tickets that Tye was trying to push off on him.

"Come on man," Tye's husky voice dipped into a whine, "They'll go to waste. Take a girl, take Bart, take your cousin, take whoever you want but they can't go to waste."

"I don't have a cousin." Jaime deadpanned, "Use them yourself." he pushed his friend's hand away but the tickets persistently pushed back.

"You know I can't." Tye pushed, "My gramps won't let me."

"What makes you think my mom will let me?" Jaime retorted adamantly, a frown beginning to form on his lips as Tye continued to press the same conversation. Too often he gave into Tye's whims. He was _not_ going to this time though.

"My grandparents will probably let me." Bart voiced innocently.

And that was the moment Jaime knew that no amount of protest could save him from the inevitable.

.

.

.

A lot of the time being friends with Tye was fine, but every now and then Jaime wondered why he was still friends with him. Every now and then Tye had stupid ideas that had a way of snaring Jaime into them and getting him tangled up into trouble.

This time it was slightly different in the way that it also snared in Bart. Jaime pitied the naïve victim; Bart had no clue that, no matter how tempting, Tye's ideas almost always ended in trouble.

It was nerve-racking climbing out his window and down his tree, even if it was done in the shroud of night when his mom was sure to be asleep he feared her waking up and knowing he wasn't in his room where he should be. Even as he safely drove out the driveway into the streets he felt a certain fear of being caught. Jaime just wasn't known for his good luck. And if anything could go wrong tonight it probably was going to.

He pulled in front of Bart's home as slowly as he could and found that Bart was already outside waiting for him. When Bart entered the car a certain energy of excitement entered with the bubbly teen.

"Dude! Her-man-oh! This is so going to be crash! I've never been to a concert before!"

"Yeah. Me neither." Jaime couldn't help the smile that tugged on the corner of his lips as a side-effect of the auburn's cheeriness.

Bart let out a cheer, "Come on! Let's go!"

.

.

.

Jaime couldn't believe it. Anger bounced around against the inside of his head and threatened to give him a migraine as he narrowed his eyes at the sight before him.

He really couldn't.

It actually shouldn't have been that surprising but he was still surprised as he stared incredulously up at the club entrance. The "concert" that Tye had been talking about was a new night club on it's opening night. And the place was packed. Jaime wanted to face-palm himself and punch Tye at the same time and he didn't even know what Bart thought of the whole situation. He risked a side glance to the boy sitting beside him in the car (which was currently parked in the night clubs parking lot). Bart didn't seem at all phased by the turn of events. Maybe he didn't yet realize that they weren't allowed in there.

"I'm going to kill Tye when we get back." Jaime mumbled with a certain tone of exhaustion as he rested his face gingerly on the steering wheel.

"What? Why?" Bart seemed surprised, "This is totally crash too right?"

"Hermano." Jaime exhaled audibly, "We're minors. Clubs like that have alcohol. We. Are. Not. Allowed. In."

Bart's eyes widened in shock, before they shifted uncertainly to the club entrance, "But-Tye had passes in."

"No doubt one of his cousins work there," a pause, "or some girl." It was widely known that Tye was able to charm girls. Jaime didn't know how and he didn't care to learn how. It wouldn't make sense to him even if he saw it.

"So, we're just heading back without even trying?" Bart's voice sounded so small and disappointed that Jaime instantly felt like the bad guy.

Dios mios, he was _not_ about to do this...

Jaime rubbed his face as he waited in line to the entrance of the club. He was about to do this.

The bouncer (or at least that's what Jaime thought the guy was, he was certainly big enough) took Jaime and Bart's tickets with no question. Well, he looked at Bart for a moment with uncertainty but after flipping the ticket and scanning something written on it he smiled and nodded the two in. Jaime would never know what Tye had written on the back of those tickets to get them in. They didn't even get a minor stamp. Tye was so in for it and Jaime didn't care how many people he knew or how much influence he had. He was using it wrong.

As they stepped into the club the two minors were instantly assaulted by pumping dance music and flashing colored lights. Booths were everywhere and the place reeked of a pungent mixture of alcohol, hormones, sweat, perfume, and cologne. Jaime resisted the urge to grab for his nose as he took his surroundings in. Bart beside him was smiling widely as he eyed the dance floor. At least Bart was happy, Jaime thought tiredly.

"Let's take a booth!" Jaime shouted over the loud music, grabbing Bart's collar and dragging him to the nearest booth.

Instantly a waitress came up as they settled in, "Any requests? First three drinks are on the house tonight." the beautiful blonde in a skimpy waitress outfit beamed cheerfully at them with her hand posed to scribble their order on the pad.

"What do you have?" Jaime had to raise his voice so she could hear.

She gave a long list of drinks; almost none of which Jaime recognized and all could be assumed to be alcoholic drinks.

"Do you have anything non-alcoholic?" he asked when she was finished.

Her smile didn't falter as she went through a considerably shorter list; water.

"I'll have orange juice." Bart chirped, having not been paying attention.

"Water." Jaime said with a scowl.

The waitress smiled (or rather never stopped) and swerved through the crowd to the bar for their drinks.

"I like the music." Bart said with a smile as he looked to the dance floor which was filled with teens bouncing and moving in an appealingly chaotic manner.

"What?" Jaime couldn't hear over the music.

"I like the music!" Bart shouted across the table.

"Yeah!" Jaime shouted back, having just barely made the words out over the music, "I like it too!"

"What?" Bart had just barely missed it.

"I said-" Jaime started to shout before Bart sighed defeatedly and groaned.

"This is ridiculous!" he groaned before jolting up and moving over to the other side of the table.

"What'd you say?" Bart asked, still having to talk loudly but at least he didn't need to shout so desperately over the thumping music.

Jaime leaned over into Bart's space and the auburn froze as the Latino was just centimeters from his ear.

"I said, I like the music too." Jaime leaned back once he was finished and Bart decided that going to loud places was a wonderful thing.

The chill running down his spine as an after-effect of Jaime's closeness agreed.

Suddenly Bart remembered something he'd heard a few girls say in passing and he got an idea. His heart sped up in his ribcage at the thought of what he was about to do and the nervous butterflies in his stomach where fluttering for freedom.

The waitress came by with their drinks and Bart's heart was squeezing and releasing compulsively as he tried to gather up the courage to convince himself to go through with his impulsive plan. In his nervousness he numbly chugged down his drink in one gulp. He didn't even register the odd burning as it made its way down.

He looked over to Jaime when the Latino shifted beside him and saw he had his glass tipped up and was drinking his water slowly. He watched a droplet escape and slide down Jaime's tempting chin. His eyes followed hungrily as it traveled down his neck and rested for a moment before Jaime wiped it away. It was all Bart could to do not turn to jello in front of Jaime...or to jump his bones. How could he even get close enough without melting? Jaime was busy watching the dance floor and Bart's eyes scanned Jaime's body greedily. It was a work of art. Under the flashing colored lights Jaime's face was solid and sexy. Bart wondered when he'd taken off his jacket as his eyes traveled down to marvel at the toned, tan arms; the flashing colors were only highlighting them attractively. His eyes then caught the white wife beater that clung to Jaime's torso but couldn't hide his soft abs underneath the thin material. Bart watched as Jaime ran his fingers through his soft charcoal black hair and left it slightly tousled. Jaime looked sexy as hell and Bart's body was starting to heat up to the point that it burned. Everything about him was sexy. Even the slightly torn holes in the knees of his jeans were screaming sexy.

Don't blame me for getting turned on when everything about you screams sex . . .

. . . It's damn sexy, sexy is hot and hot burns.

Bart had no shadow of a doubt anymore as he leaned in too close and executed his plan, "Do you want to dance?"

Jaime felt his breath hitch as Bart's lips "accidentally" brushed his ear (at least he thought it was an accident). He could feel his face and _especially_ his ear heating up. His heartbeat picked up as Bart didn't instantly pull away and let his hot breath caress the hollow of his ear for just a moment more.

Bart pulled away slowly and watched with satisfaction as Jaime blushed scarlet red. Subconsciously he knew his hormones were getting the better of him but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Bart saw Jaime gulp air nervously before he glanced at the auburn who was waiting for a response. Jaime's voice came out forced and tense as he squeaked, "S-sure." Bart just smiled teasingly and that didn't help Jaime's heart at all as he grabbed his arm and pulled him out to the dance floor.

Jaime watched as couples danced and grinded against each other, practically dry-humping one another. And with shock he watched as Bart began to dance in sync with the music, matching beat for beat and moving his body smoothly. Erotically. He'd expected Bart to dance goofily but that obviously wasn't the case as he watched the auburn before him raise him hands up before sensually feathering them down his body. He didn't know if the rise in his temperature was due to the heat rolling off of the bodies around him or from watching Bart.

Bart looked at him expectantly and Jaime realized he'd been standing on the dance floor without moving for too long, so he began to dance. Albeit, not as sexily but he was a good dancer, better than plenty of the people out there on the dance floor. Jaime had his own smooth style that made Bart hear sensual Spanish music just from watching. Jaime's body was sexy just standing still, moving too music it was downright erotic. Like watching a porn video with clothes.

It started as light, playful excitement; just letting loose and dancing to their hearts content but as song after song went by the hormones rolling off the teens and young adults surrounding them were beginning to affect them and their dancing got a lot closer and contact was becoming more frequent.

Bart's mind felt cloudy and elated as he let the fire consume him. It felt so good to let his body be so close to Jaime's. And Jaime was so wrapped up in the heat of the moment he contributed to the friction.

I need to get a hold of myself, Bart thought as his back brushed Jaime's chest, But it's damn hard when...

It's getting hot...

... hotter than hell.

Then Bart felt dizzy. He felt dizzier than he'd ever felt before. The room was spinning around him and the colors were all flashing in a way that made him squeeze his eyes against the nauseating display. He felt his body collide with Jaime's and then he thought he felt Jaime's arms and hands around him but he wasn't sure, it could have just been his hopeful imagination. The whole world was confusing and illogical and so so nauseating at that moment.

"I don't feel good." he groaned but wasn't sure it actually escaped his head.

"Don't worry hermano. I gotcha." he thought he heard Jaime sensual, accented voice reply. He imagined Jaime's face worried about him and he held onto that image because he liked the thought of Jaime caring and being concerned for him.

Bart smiled lazily at Jaime's classic bilingual vocab and the gesture felt harder to do then usual.

"Crash." he said and it sounded fuzzy to him.

"Shit." Jaime cursed as he looked around the dance floor. He could kill someone. Starting with that waitress that had given Bart an alcoholic drink. _Orange juice?_ What kind of orange juice got someone drunk?! He was so stupid! Jaime should have known better! The Latino snarled as he kept supporting the smaller teen leaning heavily into his chest. With a lot of effort Jaime managed to get Bart's arm around his shoulders so that they could leave the dance floor. He placed his hand on Bart's waist and nearly held all of Bart's weight as he trudged away.

"Hey." Jaime grunted as he walked the sick looking teen through the crowd, "A little help here" he pleaded uselessly. Bart was in no state to help. Impressively though, Jaime didn't teeter over the added weight, even managing a straight (well almost, he had to avoid running into people still) line to the exit of the night club.

Once outside Jaime felt the difference between the hot, stuffy air inside and the fresh, cool air outside. It hit his face in a refreshing way and he hoped the air helped Bart also.

"What a relief." he heard Bart slur, "Feels good to be out."

Jaime scoffed, "So you are conscious."

Jaime walked towards the car at the end of the parking lot, taking each heavy step carefully until he stumbled on a rock he had missed in the dark and unintentionally lunged forward. Bart's dead weight shifted forward also making Jaime nearly drop him.

"Whoa!" Jaime exclaimed as he grasped at the air and grabbed Bart's limp arm. He didn't have time to react as Bart's slacken body swung towards him and made contact. Jaime ended up in an awkward position where he was holding the groaning Bart with both arms, as if hugging him, to keep him from dropping to the ground painfully. However, it only took him a moment to realize that Bart's lips had fallen in the sensitive curve between his neck and shoulders. In Jaime's flustered panic he pushed Bart off and grabbed at the skin of his neck that tingled sensitively. He silently watched with horror as his actions caused his friend to fall backwards. He cringed and felt guilty as the already nauseous teen hit the ground with a loud "Oof!" and a particularly painful sounding thud.

"Ayyy." Jaime looked down at Bart pitifully. That looked like it hurt...

He kneeled down to Bart and hovered his hands inches above him.

"You okay hermano?" Bart had fallen in a shallow puddle of all things and his whole back was probably soaked wet by now.

A sluggish smile spread over Bart's lips as he looked up at the sky from his position sprawled out on his back. He reached his hands up towards the sky, "Whoaaa, the sky looks so close from here!" Jaime curiously looked up to the night sky, stars glistening unabashedly.

"Feels like I could reach out to heaven." Bart started grabbing at the sky, as if trying to capture the giant balls of light.

Jaime chuckled softly and he grabbed the hand which grabbed for stars.

"Come on." he looked to the car not far away, "It's cold out here."

Bart surprisingly complied and came when Jaime pulled him up.

"Jaime." he leaned against the Latino, "You're a really nice guy."

Jaime chuckled, "Really?"

"Yeah." Bart stumbled and Jaime kept him standing, "You're great."

"Okay. Remember that when you're sober." Jaime said like a teacher amusing a student, "Now get in the car." he opened the heavy metal door and gave Bart a gentle nudge in and after the less-than-perfectly-mobile teen finally crawled his way in he closed the door after him and came around to the other end.

When Jaime sat down Bart had his back to the door and his feet propped onto the center console between them. When had he taken off his shoes?

"Why-?" he started but Bart easily finished with a drunken shrug and, "I felt hot." Bart's voice diverged, "But my feet do feel cold." He smiled wickedly as he poked his feet towards Jaime, making the handsome Latino yelp as his bare feet met his arms.

"A-aah so cold!" Jaime squirmed away as his arm covered with goose bumps where Bart's freezing toes had touched. He twisted around to escape the loss of heat. With his back now also to the door Jaime's legs were on both sides of Bart's.

Bart's wicked smile broadened and his eyes were already sobering up due to his fast metabolism.

Jaime kicked off his shoes so that they didn't muddy up the seats and shivered a little as the heat in his feat instantly disappeared also to the cold in the car. He could see his breath puff out before him.

Jaime stared across the car to the auburn that was smiling almost teasingly across to him. He could see the bright green eyes practically glow in the dark with a glint that pulled him in. His body felt hot as he stared at the younger teen staring at him. He didn't know if it was an after-effect of the alcohol but Bart was staring at him intensely, it was almost seductive how his eyes stared wholly at him. He saw small puffs of hot breath come from Bart's lips and he noticed that Bart's eyes seemed to no longer be as foggy as they once were. They looked sharp and piercing even. The close proximity was tempting to Jaime and if he was completely honest with himself he was getting really tempted to touch Bart.

Bart huffed at the loss of his organic heater and Jaime smiled himself.

Served him right, he thought complacently as he pushed a wet, cold, bare foot on the side of Bart's face, pushing him into the opposite door.

Bart's howl echoed his own when that foot touched his skin and he was instantly sliding down in his seat, turning to push away Jaime's ankle and sweep his own cold foot across the center console and under the edge of Jaime's shirt, sighing happily when he made contact with warm skin.

"Ayyy!" Jaime shivered as goosebumps covered his stomach where Bart's feet where touching. He tried to squirm away again but only succeeded in hitting the horn with his elbow and startling them both.

"Jerk." Jaime pouted as he settled down with Bart's legs still between his own and his foot still under his shirt. He didn't complain any more than that though, even though it made him shiver. Instead he sighed and wrapped his hands around Bart's foot through the layer of his shirt, rubbing with his middle finger and thumb to ever-so-softly massage his heel, the ball of his foot, and his toes. As he rubbed he kept a tiny hint of a smile on his face. Occasionally he looked up into Bart's eyes and his smile widened.

Bart sighed contentedly as he relaxed against the opposite door, "You're too good for me."

Jaime almost mumbled something to argue that but resisted the urge and the moment passed.

"_Harder or softer?_" Jaime asked, purposely slipping a little of his Spanish accent in.

Bart's heart beat sped in his chest and his temperature rose at the question. Damn that sounded suggestive, especially after all they'd been through tonight.

No no no. He does _not_ mean it like that. Bart reminded himself.

But...he thought, doesn't mean you can't answer like he didn't.

A coy smile tugged at the corner of his lip as he seductively answered, "Harder." a teasing glint in his eyes. Jaime didn't miss the glint and meaning behind the words.

"Frio?" Bart asked with a smirk as he felt the slight shiver roll through the hot and bothered Jaime.

Jaime smirked back as he applied a little more pressure to his massage, "What? You speak Spanish now?" He leaned forward, cupping his hands so that when he breathed into them, the heat of his breath soaked through the fabric and reached Bart's skin.

"No." Bart ran his foot an inch up to a warmer spot on Jaime's stomach (gawd, he could feel his abs) and Jaime shivered as the cold moved into a new warm spot.

Jaime felt he was playing with fire. He looked into Bart's half-lidded green eyes and felt his face warm. He suddenly realized the depth of what he was feeling and knew he was no longer ankle deep, he was up to his chin and he would drown if he didn't stop. Dios mio, but did he _want_ to stop? And the sickening answer that he knew all along was no. No he didn't want to stop. He liked this. He _liked_ Bart. Jaime felt a nervous thrill. It was strangely exciting to be playing with fire. He didn't know what to think of these feelings; he didn't know what to do with them; he didn't even know exactly what they were. His hands tightened ever so slightly and pulled the small secret-crush's foot closer. Regardless, he wanted this feeling to last; this hot, consuming-fire feeling.

"I-I" Jaime stuttered, "We'd better get back to your house." the second the words escaped him he wanted to face-palm himself. That was _not_ what he wanted to say.

He saw the auburn's eyes dim ever so slightly with disappointment, "O-oh." he pulled his feat back and Jaime's regret doubled ten-fold, "Yeah. I guess you're right."

And Bart had no clue how much Jaime thought how _not_ right he'd been.

Jaime felt a heaviness settle over them as he pulled his own legs back into his side and grabbed for his shoes, which had landed in the back seat.

The ride back was long and sufficatingly silent, filled with a heavy tension that neither teens could identify.

Jaime kept trying to think of things to say but could come up with nothing. Nothing felt like the right thing to say. When he dropped Bart off at the front door of the Garrick's house he asked if he'd be okay walking on his own in hopes of prolonging their time together but the auburn just smiled without the smile reaching his eyes and said he'd be fine.

Jaime felt utterly out of place as he numbly fell back into his bed at two in the morning. He wondered about a lot of things but none of them actually formed questions or came to the surface; they were all just vague, confused thoughts that bounced around in the back of his mind and scratched at the inside walls of his mind.

He sighed and felt the cold air blow through the window that he hadn't bothered to close.

Jaime looked up and stared at the moon, "I'm trying to figure this out." he told the moon under its luminescent glow. He closed his eyes and looked inside himself, "Bart. You're making me really confused." and hot.

Homecoming was the day before Bart's family reunion. He really hoped he got it sorted out before then...

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**Okay so I'm thinking this story has about five chapters left tops. So remember to keep telling me what you like. **

**So...did you guys feel the sexual tension? 'cause I'm not sure it got through...first time writing a chapter like this...**

**As per usual; remember to encourage your writer by reviewing. **

**Follow the story so that you know when I add new chapters! **


	13. Chapter 13: Good luck

_Okay, so I just want to apologize for the long wait. I hate excuses but seriously: senior project, finals, AP tests, my parents computer crashed, I lost AVG protection. All of those things came down at me at once. I feel it's only fair to warn you it might be a couple weeks before the next chapter unless I get inspired._

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**Chapter 13:**

Zatanna was getting tired of this. For the last few weeks she'd been thinking and thinking, working overtime on her brain to figure out a quick fix for the gap between her and Bart. It was ridiculous; not that she had to compete with a boy for Jaime but that she was. She was Zatanna for goodness sake.

And upon inspection her actions lately have been very un-Zatanna-ish. Declaring war? Petty fights? Jealousy? This wasn't her. And this wasn't who she wanted to be.

But could she give up so easily on what she'd fought tooth-and-nail for? Probably not...at least not without repercussions.

Zatanna frowned deeply. Lunch time. She used to sit with M'gann while eating and chatting, but lately that usual pattern had been broken. She hadn't seen M'gann for too long. She was always so busy. So many things on her mind. And what had those things led to? What had all the thinking given her? An aching head and shaking heart.

So, thoughtlessly and yet pensive, Zatanna had drawn away from her friend to think.

Gawd how she regretted that. M'gann had been her best friend until she started liking Jaime. Now Zatanna wondered if she'd ever be forgiven for her neglect.

This was a disaster. Heavy on the 'dis'. She'd pushed away her only real friend and there wasn't even a plausible chance of her getting the guy she'd done it for. When had it all gone so wrong? Was there anything she could have done?

Not started this for starts.

She couldn't even face M'gann. She was so ashamed. And why shouldn't she be? She was a bad friend. Hell, she was a bad _person_. She had been acting so ugly, so petty, so...disgraceful-and not just to Bart either. She'd yelled at her dad yesterday. She hated fighting with him. Not because it was wrong but because he was important to her. He had been her roots and support for as long as she could remember. She'd said do many mean and intensionally hurtful things. She'd have to apologize when she got home.

Zatanna felt a fresh spike of guilt rolling in her stomach, mixing with her shame and fear and make a cocktail of bile. She felt horrible.

She didn't care about anything but apologizing and cutting her losses anymore. Along with all those sickening emotions was a growing sense of passive acceptance and acknowledgment of what she unconsciously knew all along; she was just trying to prolong it. She knew what she was. She was second. A scoff escaped her lips, who was she kidding? She wasn't even second. Hell, she doubted the list went beyond one name; and that name wasn't hers.

She knew what was in order if she was to step down. But that didn't mean she liked it. Half of it would be annoying and the other half would be painful but it was worth it to cut her losses and move on right? She hoped so...

.

.

.

Zatanna found Bart after school. She managed to catch him right when he'd steered away from Jaime and Tye to go to his locker.

She didn't think this would be pleasant. After all, as far as Bart was aware she was still after Jaime. So when he spotted her and shot a glare at her she expected it, but dang if it didn't hurt anyway.

"What do you want?" The cold, passive acid he spoke to her also stung. He might as well of thrown acid onto her conscious with how much it burned.

"I..." she had practiced what she'd say on her way there but now, faced with the very surprisingly hostile Bart, the whole script went out the window. Gawd, and she'd made him like this. She'd turned the school's resident sunshine into a scowling ball of caution and guard. She could kick herself. She pulled herself from her inner turmoil long enough to realize he was waiting for her to say something...

"I'm sorry." she blurted.

The look that crossed his face might have been funny if not for the seriousness of it all.

"Excuse me?" he retorted, still guarded and now suspicious.

"For, uh, everything. I've been..." she searched for the words to describe how she'd been, "...wrong." she finished lamely.

Bart didn't say anything for a few seconds and it was the longest few seconds of her life. The way he was looking at her like he was searching for any signs of deception or an ulterior motive only prolonged the seconds for her and increased her feelings of guilt and shame.

His bright green eyes were skeptic as he asked slowly, "What do you mean?"

She shuddered in a breath, "I'm quitting. I...I just wanted to say I'm sorry for acting the way I did. That's not the real me. I don't know what came over me. Well, I do, but..." her voice faded out, before she came back with certain finality, "I'm just sorry, okay?"

Bart seemed to consider this for a few seconds. Finally he nodded his head and outstretched a hand, "We didn't really get off on the right foot. I'm Bart."

The string of tears were a welcome sensation at that moment.

She accepted the hand with more gratitude than handshaking usually stirred.

Bart leaned in and his smile was small but genuine and amicable, "And I accept your apology. We both could have acted better."

Zatanna felt the tears sting stronger and from the sudden blurring she knew she was crying but the smile that spread over her lips in return to his hardly cared.

.

.

.

The relief and bitter happiness disappeared from Zatanna the second she turned to face the second half of her repentance.

A brooding darkness swelled around Zatanna as she walked down the street. It was with a spoon of salt that she'd accepted her karma. She'd broken plenty of hearts; now was her turn. She walked to the destination where her heart would be torn out and laid bare only to be given the treatment she would give any one else's heart.

She had to be a masochist.

Zatanna looked down at the mat of the Reyes household, "Bienvenidos!" it read. The cheery greeting clashed her current mood violently and made her grimace. She considered turning around, forgetting about inflicted such a retribution upon herself but a moral obligation to right her wrongs made her stay planted before the obnoxious welcome mat.

She had repented with Bart and he'd graciously forgiven her. She was still readjusting her view from the whole Bart thing. Her emotional barriers were shaky at best and she knew that the slightest push could shove her towards tears or joy. Was this really necessary? Jaime probably doesn't even know how she feels-felt she hastily corrected.

No.

She had to do this.

She gathered her courage and straightened out her clothes once more before she took a deep breath and, with a forced smile, knocked on the door.

"One second!" a female voice answered and a second later a young girl answered the door, "Can I help you?"

"Uh..." Zatanna felt her heart flutter but tried to keep her face calm and friendly as she asked, "Is Jaime here?" A feeling of dread filled her as the girl nodded.

There was no way to turn back now.

"Jaime." Milagro hollered from downstairs. It was the afternoon and Jaime just wanted to laze about the house while procrastinating on his homework until Bart came to help.

"What Milagro?" he called back.

"Tu novia esta aqui!" came the response. (_Your girlfriend is here!_)

Que?

"One second!" he responded as he put his AP Bio book down onto his bed and stood up.

"He'll be a second." The little girl returned her attention to the raven-haired teen in the doorway and smiled, "So, what's your name?"

"Zatanna, y no estoy su novia. What's yours?" (_and I'm not his girlfriend_.) Zatanna watched the young girl's eyes widen with surprise.

"Tu hablas Espanol?" she asked in wonder. (_You speak Spanish?_)

"I took a few Spanish classes in high school." Zatanna replied, finding it oddly nice to be distracted. She almost wished the little girl would never leave and Jaime would never come down. She was perfectly content with staying in suspension like this.

Milagro's shock turned into a smile, "You mean people teach Spanish in high school?"

"Yup," Zatanna thought the young girl's shock strangely soothing, "It's pretty popular."

Jaime came up to behind Milagro then and ruffled the young girl's hair, "Why don't you go play in your room or something?" he advised.

Milagro gave him a resigned sigh that said how she wasn't pleased but would obey nevertheless.

"You're not the boss of me." Milagro mumbled to be rebellious but left the two teenagers to themselves anyway, adding a stomp to her step to emphasize her displeasure.

"Sorry," Jaime gave a shy smile. They'd made no plans to record the video this weekend so he had no clue why Zatanna was at his door step. "Uh..." he rubbed at the back of his neck, "Do you want to come in?" He offered, missing the distraught look hidden by her face but showing behind her eyes.

Zatanna was living a nightmare. She felt paralyzed. Her heart was fluttering in the way that it always did when Jaime was around. Oh gawd, she really liked him. This was gonna hurt like hell.

"Zat-?" Jaime started but was shortly cut off.

"No, that's fine. I, uh, was in the neighborhood and decided to stop here on my way to my friends."

"Oh," Jaime said lamely, "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Zatanna said and a few moments passed with nothing said. Zatanna mentally kicked herself for allowing an awkward silence. So not chalant, she scolded herself, you have got to find a way to ask him.

She was feeling so many things at once that it was hard to think straight; fear was dominant, along with acceptance of her fate, which clashed with her trepidation, which shadowed her hope, which fueled the tightening in her chest. Damn she hated this. It was like watching an episode knowing that her favorite character was going to die and there was nothing she could do but watch and uselessly build up hope just to have it come crashing down on her like a skyscraper.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Jaime's eyebrow rose as he asked her this.

Oh gawd, it was coming.

"I..."

She hated this part.

"Do you want to-will you-go...homecoming...me." There were a lot of ways she could have confessed her feelings but this seemed the best option to her. Certainly not the most straight-forward but she would get what she asked for and it would leave Jaime to interpret or ignore it as he liked.

She was asking the ground this because she couldn't stand to see his face when he said no. She noticed morosely that there was a smudge on her shoes. A little black smudge that probably wouldn't come out easily. She tried to distract herself with thinking of ways to wash it out but Jaime had recovered from the shock of her asking him out by then.

"I'm...sorry."

Yup, she knew it. Strangely she felt numbed enough by it to not show completely the disappointment that pounded into her. Or maybe the tears were just waiting to ambush her later, she thought darkly.

"I kinda figured as much." Zatanna said quietly, still not looking up from the damn smudge on her shoe.

She missed the shock that briefly flickered across Jaime's face.

"Then why'd you...?" He asked and she noticed he was being carefully gentle with his tone. Considerate, she observed dryly. _Wouldn't want to rub salt in the wound_.

"So I could get rejected." she stated flatly, like reading from a script. It almost was too, she'd thought this through a lot and come to a lot of conclusions-all with one fundamental similarity: rejection. Her throat burned like it was begging her to say no more painful words. She could feel the dull swell behind her eyes that meant tears were being held back.

Her blunt statement was followed by a blank silence. Jaime unconsciously could tell she was telling the truth but the logic escaped him.

She heard the unspoken 'Why?' hanging in the air and decided to address it.

Her throat closed around the words as she said them and the emotional pain could be heard in the words "I needed to kill all my hope to move on, ya know?" She made an attempt at a laugh but it came out kind of strangled sounding. She thought of how she'd been acting recently and hated how she'd cast aside her moral compass so quickly. She hadn't been acting in a way she was proud of and she knew when to take herself out of the game. She just wished it didn't hurt so much.

"I'm sorry...I don't really feel...and I'm not going to the..." Jaime was stumbling for words in his attempt to lessen her now obvious pain and despair.

It felt like her ribs were caving in as she continued, "Thanks Jaime, I needed that." with a watery rasp.

She thought she should leave then before she broke down into tears, because she could definitely feel her eyes start to sting as a warning sign.

But before she lifted her eyes from that smudge on her shoe she said one last thing that needed to be said, "Could you tell Bart good luck for me?"

Something in Jaime told him not to ask, and that instinct was what made Jaime almost angelic in Zatanna's eyes.

"Yeah. I can do that." he looked gently at what he could see of her face and smiled softly.

"Thanks." she responded sincerely, "I...I'm sorry for this. I know it's weird. But I figured I needed this to..." her voice trailed off with uncertainly.

"Don't worry." Jaime felt the need to reassure her, "I know what it's like..."_ to want to stop liking someone because you know it's better that way_. The words weren't said but they were heard nonetheless.

Zatanna nodded and when she felt the tears pushing out she squeezed her eyes as tightly closed as she could. She liked him. She really, really liked him. And there was no way this was going to work out. She had crushed the smallest hope she'd been clinging to that Jaime could change his mind in the future. She didn't need him to change his mind for things to turn right for her. She would only end up torturing herself by hoping for that. And she'd had enough of that.

The tears started to push harder and to Jaime her turning around and walking away seemed very abrupt.

Get a grip of yourself, Zatanna scolded herself as her breathing became erratic.

Damn it she was not about to do this in public. She was not about to have a break down in public. She'd heard about people who did that. She was _not_ one of those people.

But the tears fell.

The street she was on had cars driving back and forth and was a busy enough street that someone she knew could see her but for all that she couldn't hold the tears in. Her utter helplessness engulfed her and she squatted down as all the pain, and rejection, and humiliation took her at once.

It was like she was screaming and no one could hear. The tears fell with no answering comfort. People passed by and only increased her pain and misery. She was ashamed of how he was affecting her. She felt like nothing. She felt hopeless like nothing could save her.

Zatanna ducked her head between her knees and felt her whole body ache with the contradicting feelings of despair and resolution and shame and heartbreak. She hiccuped sloppily again as she wiped the tears away only to have them replaced almost instantly by equally fat and unabashed tears. She hated this. The weakness she was showing and her inability to stop. She knew her crying changed nothing. That it would all have been the same if she hadn't told him but she had, and she'd been rejected and damn it hurt. She almost wished she could have all the bad stuff back just to get rid of the immense pain that was racking her body and heart and making her flood tears alone and in the street.

She didn't want to cry but the tears came on their own. She was scared of being alone. She closed her eyes and felt more alone than ever. A whimper escaped her lips as she hiccuped sloppily and cried unabashed on that unknown street.

"Shit, Zatanna?" she heard close to her suddenly and it made her jolt but she was too ashamed to look up at the speaker whomever it was, and the tears still weren't stopping. If anything it just added another emotion to her disordered feelings.

A hand touched her back and it was gentle and warm, "Zatanna," the voice was undoubtedly concerned, "What happened?" His hand slid comfortably up and down her back making her relax a little and the tears slow.

She hiccuped sloppily and finally looked up at the person showing such kindness. To what should have been her surprise but wasn't she looked into the deep blue eyes of Dick Grayson.

"You again." she snorted.

He didn't seem amused as he stared back into her eyes. She started noticing things about him slowly as they stared at each other, eventually she noticed the coloration of his cheeks, and the slightly flustered look in his eyes.

"You're blushing." Zatanna pointed out a little surprised.

"Do you have to mention it? Geez." Dick covered the left side of his face with his left palm; his other was still busy rubbing her back soothingly she noticed belated.

"What were you thinking crying on the sidewalk." he mumbled, looking at her through the gaps in his hand.

"I wasn't really thinking..." she confessed bashfully.

"What would you have done if someone else had come? El Paso's not crime free."

"But you came." she said blankly.

"Yeah, I know but I won't always be driving by...At least you stopped crying." His fingers brushed against her cheek as he wiped her tears away.

"Why do you always see me at my worst?"

"I don't know." he sighed, "Because you keep acting silly."

An ironic snort from Zatanna, "Yeah, well this is me trying to stop."

"Maybe you need help." Grayson cajoled as he held out his hand and helped her up to her feat.

"What? And you're supposed to be the one to help me?" she asked wryly.

"I do have a some soup waiting back home...I hear that's perfect comfort food." the blue-eyed wonder offered with a gesture to the limo he had undoubtedly been going home in.

"Mansions serve soup?" Zatanna asked, thrown off guard. Undoubtedly his tactic for chasing away her meloncholy.

"For you? We could serve mac 'n' cheese." and the smile he offered was as cheesy as the food her offered.

And that made the corner of her mouth quirk up into a watery smile despite the sadness that still lingered in her heart.

"I'll take your offer boy wonder." Zatanna sniffed up the last of her tears, content to remain distracted a little longer, "But only because mac 'n' cheese sounds really good right now." she walked the step towards him and boldly gave him a peck on the cheek to show her gratitude. Then she climbed into the limo first and left Dick clutching to his cheek in wonder.

"She loves me." he said jokingly to the empty sidewalk. Needless to say, he'd never been so eager to climb into that limo before.

* * *

_Did anyone feel for Zatanna? I felt the poor girl was getting too much hate, I hope this chapter eases it up. I love Zatanna but I don't usually ship her with Robin, but for some reason it works for this story. Maybe that's because Artemis is too busy loving Wally? (I ship both Traught and Spitfire equally hard). I seriously think that Robin/Nightwing has a unrequited love for her in the show though. It's everywhere. Go to battybravery. tumblr post /24775931340/random-robart-rationalization-i-tried -to-begin if you don't believe me. (minus the spaces of course)_

_This chapter may not of been what you've all been waiting for but hey-next chapter you get the flash family reunion! You can NOT tell me you haven't been waiting for that! I can feel that writing that chapter will be hard though. Don't forget to review to make your author smile! And if not for me-do it for Bart and Jaime._


	14. Family Reunion, dinner, and talks of us

**Okay so I feel like this chapter is choppy but hey the author's critique is always harsher than the reader's right? Hopefully...**

**BTW, Bart and Jaime missed homecoming but I feel I should tell you that in the background Ty and Cassie went to the prom together. Dick asked Zatanna and she, after some trolling, accepted and they went to prom together and troll danced everything and everyone had a grand time. Megan went with Connor but only platonically (she wished it was otherwise) but though awkward she did manage to get Connor to do some slow dances with her.**

**Anyway, sorry for the long wait but it took a while for me to get inspired. Better late than never right? See, this is why you guys need to follow this story, 'cause my updates are kind of erratic.**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Family Reunion, Dinner, and Talks of Us**

It was strange waking up that Saturday and knowing that Jaime was going to meet his entire family and yet it only felt _right_. Like Jaime belonged as a part of the family. Bart didn't know how to describe it other than he felt like Jaime belonged in all parts of his life. Maybe it seemed narcissistic how he assumed that Jaime would always be there but it only felt right. Bart could no longer imagine his life without Jaime. He loved him. He loved Jaime so much that he would do anything for him. He could feel it in his bones. Bart Allen would go to Tibet and back for Jaime. Living a life without Jaime. In any capacity. It just wasn't thinkable. Wasn't bearable.

Bart wondered how he'd kept his feelings hidden so far. He was in love with Jaime and since the first day they'd met he'd wanted him so bad. He wanted him in a way that wasn't even fair. Gawd, what would he give up to have Jaime? His money? Yes. His career goals? Yes. Science? Yes. Yes yes, yes to it all. He'd change his name to Billy Bob and live in a hillbilly shack for the rest of his life if Jaime was in that shack. Granted, he'd complain all the time and Jaime would have to shut him up with 24-hour love-making but it was still better than life without Jaime…

With only thoughts of how much he loved Jaime Reyes, Bart got dressed for that day looking forward to spending time with said boy.

.

.

.

Later when they arrived at the family reunion…

Bart smiled ecstatically as they entered the West family household together. He couldn't believe how happy he was to just have Jaime there at his family reunion. When he glanced over at Jaime he was surprised by the look on his face.

He looked incredibly upset, distressed even.

"What's wrong?" Bart whispered to Jaime. But Jaime just looked at him and shook his head. Bart stared back, trying to urge him into speaking with a look and a gesture. He wasn't giving up that easily.

"Jaime?" Bart asked, his concern now very evident.

Jaime tried weekly to muster up a smile for Bart. "Don't worry. I'm just a little nervous." He half-lied. But looking at Bart's face had been a mistake, because as soon as he had the weird, tangled up, confused feelings he'd been trying to mask surfaced. Even since he'd realized he had _feelings_ for Bart he'd felt jumbled up in a way that he'd never felt before. Jaime couldn't begin to describe how turned around his world felt. He felt like he was in the stomach of a rocking ship in a storm. His mind was constantly filled with background noise of confusion and warring interests.

Bart was about to pursue the deeper answer when Artemis Crock arrived. If Jaime had known he would have praised her for her horribly superb time, as it was Bart was cursing her for it.

"So you came." She cut in, not noticing the tension and therefore dispelling it. Sporting a green tank top and faded blue pants she greeted them both with a hug. Her mood was a lot different from the first time they'd met in the way that she was actually happy to see them, as if they were friends that hadn't seen each other in a long time.

"Hey." Jaime gave his unsure smile and Bart thought that was particularly cute.

"Did I hear Bart's name?" a masculine but friendly voice asked coming out of the crowd that was in the living room.

Jaime looked up to see a redhead with freckles and Bart's green eyes coming towards them. The family resemblance was strong he observed absent-mindedly. The redhead had broad athletic shoulders and legs that looked like a runners despite being covered in jeans. Jaime instantly knew that Bart and his cousin had shared interest in running.

"Wally!" Bart called, momentarily forgetting Jaime's mood, and the two hugged at the middle area between them.

"How have ya been doing squirt?" Wally ruffled Bart's hair in a friendly manner before shifting his eyes over to his girlfriend Artemis and then the teenage boy beside her, never dropping his warming smile.

"Is this Jaime?" He asked already knowing the answer.

"Correct." Artemis answered for Jaime while she leaned her elbow onto his shoulder, "Isn't he cute?"

Jaime couldn't tell if she was serious or teasing but he blushed nonetheless and began to stutter unintelligibly under such unabashed opinion.

Wally pouted in response, "But I'm cuter right babe?" he whined.

Artemis just chuckled teasingly, "I don't know…" she leaned over a little and pinched Jaime's cheeks like any grandmother would, "He's _pret-ty_ cute."

Wally gave his twisted frown, it was a pouty frown that made even Jaime want to give him something to return that smile that seemed so natural on his face.

Artemis snorted with laughter, "Alright. You made your point." she relented and crossed the small distance to plant a kiss on Wally's again-smiling lips, "You're pretty cute too."

"Ya mean it babe?" Wally wiggled his eyebrows playfully, eliciting another snorted laughter from the blonde beauty.

"Sure." She conceded almost sarcastically and started to stride away, Wally on her heel like a love-sick puppy, babbling away about something or other.

Jaime glanced over at Bart. He had no clue how he should act when he was feeling so jumbled up. He could feel he was off from how he usually acted but he had no clue how he had acted before. He frowned secondly before catching himself and asserting a smile. Bart couldn't help but notice the conflict going on with Jaime but had only a vague gut feeling he couldn't even describe properly.

.

.

.

"Sooooo, Jaime…" Wally started when he'd gotten the Latino alone on his way out of the bathroom. Jaime looked slightly surprised but he quickly adjusted his face to a calm neutral.

"Yes?" Jaime asked normally.

"You and Bart…" Wally's face went red, he'd never had to give this talk before. But since Bart's dad wasn't around he assumed that he'd want Wally to take over for him. "You're…"

Jaime bristled, "_What?"_ and the question sounded a lot harsher than he'd ever meant. He could see _that_ by the way Wally looked slightly affronted with a raised red eyebrow. Jaime knew what Wally was insinuating though and if he was right then he didn't know what he…ugh.

He got frustrated just thinking about the jumbled up feelings he'd been having towards Bart for only God knows how long… He couldn't even explain them to himself! How could he be expected to explain to Bart's probably well-meaning cousin?!

Jaime frowned at himself. Not everything was about him and his damn feelings.

"I'm… sorry." Jaime rubbed at the bridge of his nose, each syllable wracked with strain. "That was…out of call."

"I'm going to guess you're really confused about that topic?" Wally bounced back surprisingly quickly, Jaime had to give him credit for that.

"You have no idea…" Jaime feathered his hands through his tousled hair.

"Try me." Wally deadpanned.

Jaime looked up to see Wally looking at him with a lopsided smile and a raised eyebrow.

That's when Jaime decided: Eff it. Why not? And decided to stop giving a mierda what the heck other people thought of him because he still couldn't freakin' decide what to think of himself. So why should he give a damn what they think? Him first, them later.

So like a great relief off his chest he started speaking everything, "I feel so jumbled up inside. Like I have all these feelings and no clue what to do with them. L-like—I think everything's going to be alright and then the next second I get frustrated. I've never felt so bi-polar in my life." Jaime racked his fingers through his hair and he released another heavy sigh. Guy that felt good to say.

He couldn't have been any more confused though when he heard Wally begin laughing. Like, _really_ laughing; he started laughing so hard that tears started to form in his eyes. All Jaime could do was stare nonplussed at him.

"It's just-ahahahha- oh I'm sorry- heh heh- it's just… You sound just like I did before, when I was completely thrown off by Artemis."

Wally then sobered up quite suddenly.

"Look, Jaime," The switch to serious was so quick Jaime was floored, "I know you're confused and you have all these messed up feelings but it's perfectly normal…kinda. Wait, no, what I mean is—I can assure you that whatever feelings you have for Bart, he returns, so you don't have to worry about that. What you have to figure out is if you want this. 'Cause I know that you're scared. So if you go into this and get Bart all hyped then chicken out, you're going to seriously mess him up…'cause he's going to be a lot more serious than you."

"I…wha—?" Jaime stared at him for a long moment, stunned and silent.

"I…" Jaime tried again but was completely loss for words.

Wally smiled sympathetically at the confused teen before patting him on the shoulder, contented to have said what he'd wanted.

"Wow." Wally whistled his seriousness dissolving instantly into his usual friendly demeanor, "Sooo, emotional speeches and stuff over with. How about we return to the party and _you_ think about what I said?"

Jaime just nodded numbly while being led to the dining room where dinner was beginning, because, really. What else could he do?

.

.

.

Jaime sat next to Bart and across from Wally and Artemis as dinner began. Absentmindedly he arranged the vegetables on this plate.

Bart was challenging everything he knew to be true about himself. He felt defensive.

No, the carrots don't belong with the celery. He rolled the baby carrots over towards the broccoli where the broccoli was staging a coupe with the snow peas.

Even if he knew what he was he was reluctant to let go of everything he'd ever known for that great uncertainty. So out of fear he'd been clinging desperately to his vision of himself that he'd had for years instead of adopting a new view.

Jaime quickly crushed the coupe by sending in the cauliflower, making the cauliflower jump over the salad leaf to tackle the broccoli before sending it and the snow peas into jail with the croutons.

And what if he did take a chance?

How long could they even last before Bart got bored of him anyway? A month? A week? Less? And then he'd be out one friend with nothing lasting to show. He'd seen Bart play games; he'd play them for a day or two before getting bored and moving to the next one. He didn't want to be that toy.

Fear.

Uncertainty.

Jaime felt like an animal pushed into a corner; he could lash out with the same desperateness that any animal could. Heck, he'd already done that to Bart's cousin-who he barely knew by the way.

Jaime didn't know where he belonged.

Jaime stabbed at the croutons and distractedly chewed them. He hated this murky confusion more than anything. He felt like banging his head on walls and thrashing around.

Jaime sighed, unknowingly catching the auburn's attention.

Bart could see the conflict blazing in Jaime's Latino eyes. And unconsciously he knew that behind that conflict was defensiveness, though at _who_ he had no clue, and there was still much that he didn't know.

Jaime searched himself as he sat there chewing without tasting. _Why am I rejecting Bart? Why?! Because it's the "right" thing to do?! Because my peers would approve?! _Jaime tried his hardest to focus only on himself, but every time he did he thought of Tye and his sister and-_Don't do that!_

_What do **you** want?!_

Jaime could feel himself coming to a fork in the road.

Jaime's mind was all over the place. He wanted to go home but it felt like there was no place to go. He was lost inside.

.

.

.

As they sat on the West family sofa after dinner Bart couldn't help looking at Jaime next to him and send a thank you up to the heavens for gifting him with Jaime.

_Who was I before you?_ Bart wondered. He could still remember the first time he'd met Jaime in the hallway. Even since getting thrown off his feet he'd been off balance and head over sneakers in love with Jaime, even if he hadn't known it.

When he'd gone to second period that first day, he hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from Jaime. He'd been fascinated from the beginning, since the second he'd heard rumors of him way back in freshman year. It had taken a sincere amount of effort not to charge into that room and head straight for Jaime, bombarding him with questions and altogether trying to unravel the Latino. His curiosity was only sincere but idle interest back then but when he got to know Jaime, know things about him that others didn't know, he became obsessed. Every new detail was savored. He relished in knowing he knew things about Jaime that others would never know.

He'd tried to unravel Jaime as best he could that first day, but he had been so guarded, so tense. He hadn't wanted to be there.

But when Jaime had smiled that first time, it had made Bart's heart flutter. Even then, love had stirred inside him. God, why hadn't he known that at the time? He'd been so blind. All he'd understood was that he was drawn to Jaime. Drawn to him like a shiny new chemistry set, or an untested new theory, or something. Something that was the sort of thing that caught Bart Allen's attention. Except nothing had ever caught his attention the way Jaime had.

Bart knew he had little patience and a short attention span; he'd never been interested in a game for longer than it took to beat it or get bored with it—which usually wasn't more than a few days. He constantly switched his interests between geology, physics, chemistry, biology, anatomy, microbiology, etc. Heck, he couldn't finish a TV series before he predicted the ending and switched to another. That he was so captivated by Jaime wasn't to be taken lightly.

He stared as Jaime, noting vaguely that he was talking with his Uncle Barry about something. Though he couldn't bring himself to care what at the moment. School or something. All that he cared about was watching Jaime and thinking how lucky he was to even have him beside him.

All dinner he'd been staring at him without catching Jaime's eyes once. He assumed it was discomfort about being in an unfamiliar setting surrounded by near-stranger, but Bart had never seen him so awkward or withdrawn before.

But all Bart could think about was how much he loved him as he watched Jaime smile that charmingly warm and sincere smile of his as his uncle told a joke. How much he wanted to kiss him and show Jaime how much he felt for him; how much he had come to matter to him.

Suddenly he couldn't take it anymore, he lifted a hand and placed it on Jaime's shoulder, shaking it gently to get his attention.

Jaime cut off whatever he was telling Uncle Barry mid-sentence and looked at Bart obviously wondering what he wanted to say.

"You. Me. Talk. Now." Bart said and then without waiting for Jaime's response he grabbed his arm and pulled him up and away with him. Jaime gave an apologetic look to Uncle Barry as he was being carted away.

"What's up?" Jaime asked after he'd been dragged into the West family's backyard and more so over into a sheltered section that couldn't be seen from the house, between the fence and wall separating the pool area from the backyard. The early signs of dusk were showing from the long shadows cast everywhere and the dwindling light.

Bart was giving openly simmering stares. Jaime frowned. It was there. That pull, like gravity.

Bart noted the frown and suddenly lost his nerve, "Uh…heh heh," he laughed nervously, fidgeting his hands, "Do you want to swim?" It was a ridiculous question. It was getting dark and neither of them had a swim suit and he could just as well have asked Jaime that inside. They both knew it.

"Bart…" Jaime said, getting his attention. Bart looked up at him, saw the way Jaime was staring at him and stiffened.

"What? Is something wrong?" he sounded concerned.

"Bart…" he said again, it was like all those confusing feelings had drained out of him, except this one impulse, pulling him towards Bart like an electron to a neutron.

Suddenly Jaime didn't care that they were both males, or that Bart might get bored of him. Bart in his very existence was challenging everything he knew to be true about himself-but suddenly those feelings were all overwritten and wiped out by that one all-consuming, heady pull that made Jaime's head spin with how strong and pure and suddenly clear it made everything seem. It was like all the fighting with himself and confusion and everything suddenly seemed so pointless because it was so, so clear.

_You helped me understand biology_, Jaime thought, and then dove in and planted his lips on Bart's.

What he didn't expect though was that after a moment's hesitation Bart would kiss him back.

Jaime wrapped his arms around Bart, kissing him enthusiastically. Bart's heart was hammering in his chest, but he didn't care, not as long as Jaime was there. He felt the dwindling twilight against his skin and felt the thrill of kissing Jaime.

The kiss was raw, pure want and connection and for Jaime it was expressing.

Bart had no clue why Jaime was kissing him but he could hardly bring himself to stop such an insanely good kiss to ask. His head was swirling with how high his own happiness was making him. Jaime lifted him up. Jaime lifted him up to dizzying heights.

As their kiss lasted longer Jaime was only becoming more and more aware of how precious Bart was to him, how afraid he was to lose him. He kissed with renewed longing, slipping his tongue experimentally over Bart's lips, to which the younger teen responded positively. When Jaime actually elicited a moan from the auburn he felt like he was flying on his own. Gawd he didn't want this to end. Their lips soft and warm and melding together. He wanted this to last forever.

Bart slipped his hands into Jaime's hair and gripped him gently behind the ears, tilting his head down to meet his lips.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait." Jaime pulled back and Bart had no clue why anyone would stop something so _wonderful_.

"Why are you kissing me?" Jaime asked seriously. The still want-filled look Jaime was giving him sent Bart's heart beat into rapid palpitations.

Bart couldn't think straight with his head spinning and with Jaime looking at him like that, "Huh?" he asked, feeling rather dazed.

"I kissed you," Jaime stated with more than a little shock in his voice, "But why did you kiss me back?"

"I…because…" Why weren't they kissing _now_? Gawd, they should be kissing. Now. "Because I…" Bart recaptured Jaime's lips before he could finish that sentence, this time asserting his own forcefulness into the kiss, quickly but passionately kissing Jaime and then pulling back again before Jaime could even react.

"Because I'm in love with you." Bart blurted, and then before Jaime could say anything again he dove back into those perfectly curved lips.

Jaime had to get his stunned response out in between kisses.

"You-"

_Smooch_

"-Love-"

_Smooch_

"-Me?"

Much more than a smooch. Pure, chemistry-filled, YES.

"Wait, wait." Jaime pulled back again, "I—"

Bart obliged, pulling back to a normal teenage boy distance, a small frown on his face. It didn't take a genius to see that Jaime was overwhelmed and confused.

"I think we might need to talk this out." He said.

Jaime nodded. They definitely needed to do that.

He straightened out his hair, suddenly becoming aware of what kind of position they were in just a moment again and how bold he'd been. He blushed.

"You kissed me." Bart stated after a few minutes of silence. The heat in Jaime's cheeks rose.

"Yes." he nodded meekly.

"I'm male." He pointed out to him.

"I had noticed." Jaime told him.

"That…doesn't bother you?" Bart ventured.

"Doesn't look like it." Jaime seemed as surprised as him by this realization. But it was true, what he'd just done with Bart hadn't felt wrong in any way, just the opposite.

"Jaime, do you…are you?"

"No! I mean-I don't know." Jaime ran his fingers through his hair, "It'd be stupid to say I wasn't after what we just did but…you're different."

Well, Bart was pleased to hear that.

"So…" Bart pursed his lips with consideration, "What are we? Now…"

Jaime's eyes went wide at that, "I—well, do you…want anything more than that? I mean as…"

"Oh _gawd_ yes." Bart practically moaned, then momentarily felt trepidation.

That feeling was quickly dismissed when he saw Jaime sigh.

"So…" Jaime grappled for the words.

"Boyfriends?" Bart aided and was rewarded with a smile and amused nod.

"Yeah…Just sounds weird I guess." Jaime chuckled.

"Oh."

Jaime saw an apologetic and unsure look cross Bart's face and quickly dove in to kiss those fears away.

"No, it's fine." Jaime said when he pulled back again, this time resting their foreheads together, "I like it-us I mean."

"Jaime."

"Mm?"

"Can I ask…um…how long?" Bart said in that adorably unsure way. _Things this good just don't happen to me_, Bart thought. _It just did though_, he reminded himself, the tingle of Jaime's kiss still on his lips.

"Probably a little while longer but I think it only really occurred to me when we went camping." Jaime licked his lips and blushed. Something that should be outlawed. How could someone manage to be so gosh darn cute and sexy at the same time?!

_Wait, that long? _Then why the heck hadn't they been doing this sooner? "Then why'd you wait so long?" Bart whispered. They could have been locking lips before!

Jaime sighed, and the warm breath tickled Bart's lips, "I was really confused okay? I'd never liked a guy before…I'd always thought I was straight, so when I started feeling otherwise I was kind of slow."

Bart nodded, a gesture that mixed his hair with Jaime's.

"What about you?" Jaime asked quietly back.

"Honestly? I've probably had a crush on you since freshman year, but it only got serious this year when I got to know you." Bart felt considerably more embarrassed to confess his that Jaime probably had.

"We'd…better get back in."

Jaime chuckled at that.

"Yeah, probably should. Ya know, before they send someone out to search for us…"

"That…could be embarrassing." Bart chuckled, stealing one last kiss before they headed back in.

* * *

**Okay, so review and tell me what you thought...**


	15. Chapter 15: Say yes

_So as an apology for the month or so wait for the last chapter I decided what the heck? Why not give them two chapters in a week? Granted this one is shorter than the usual but hopefully it tickles your fancy. Since I couldn't think of anything to do directly after the last chapter I decided to do a time skip. This is the first of the epilogues for this story._

* * *

**Chapter 15: Epilogue**

6 months later…

"Bart, what is this about?" Jaime chuckled gently as he felt blindly in front of him.

Bart grinned widely at his blindfolded boyfriend as he led him from behind through the path that he'd pre-planned.

"Other than some good old fashion kinky fun?" Bart teased.

"Ha, ha, come on hermano." Jaime responded dryly but couldn't conceal the slightest twitch of the corner of his lips.

Jaime could smell the earth; dirt, trees, he thought he heard water moving though so he was really confused—because the nearest lake was an hour away and he knew for a fact that Bart hadn't driven them that far.

"Where are we?" Jaime didn't even know where they could go at this hour and day of week. It was a Sunday and well into the late hours of night.

His boyfriend chuckled from behind him, "So impatient."

Then the cloth was lifted, and through blurred vision Jaime saw something like a fire. Then his eyes focused and he realized it was candles, and he was in some kind of building filled with plants of all kinds.

"Where is—?" He looked around. The candles were set around a stone bench and glass coffee table with a white cloth thrown over it. He could see in the dim light that the plants were tropical and there was a water fountain behind the bench somewhere because he most definitely heard water running. The whole roof was nothing but glass and sky and he could see the stars and the crescent moon.

Jaime then turned to his boyfriend, "What's going on?" he asked the auburn who was looking at him with gentle adoration.

"I wanted to celebrate your birthday a little early." Bart smiled sweetly.

Bart took a few steps and produced a picnic basket from behind a shrub of leaves and pink, "I pulled a few strings and family calls and was able to get us in for a romantic dinner. But I could only get this place on a Sunday when it's closed."

"Wow."

The look on Jaime's face was worth it and Bart would do it all again if it meant more of that adoring, I-feel-so-loved-I can't-believe-you-went-this-far-for-me look.

"Yeah, so," Bart reached into the picnic basket and produced plastic plates and some silverware and a second later he was setting them up on the table, along with napkins, sandwiches, sliced pineapple, apples, and what Jaime assumed was chocolate cake.

"Oh!" Bart reached in one more time, this time in a separate compartment, and pulled out two glasses with long necks, and a bottle of sparkling apple cider. "My grandparents got this for us." Bart looked so content as he set everything up and poured equal amounts into each cup.

"So if the guest of honor would sit we could begin our romantic candle-lit dinner." Bart gave a showy gesture for Jaime to take a seat on the stone bench.

Jaime chuckled softly and obliged him.

Bart began explaining the food, not unlike a waiter explaining the menu, "Our main course will be all-natural, roasted turkey, smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato and fresh avocado with reduced-fat olive oil mayo on freshly baked Sourdough."

"Fancy." Jaime commented lightly, though he was actually a little impressed.

"Followed by Artemis' specially cup pineapple, and apples cut by your truly." Bart continued, "Dessert will be warm chocolate cake with melted chocolate center, drizzled with raspberry sauce."

Jaime eyed said cake and felt his mouth water. He was definitely looking forward to that.

"So, bon appétit." Bart said, ever the food-impatient one. Jaime chuckled at that, to be honest he was surprised Bart even got through the menu before he ate something.

"Wow, this is actually good." Jaime commented as he bit into the sandwich, "Did you make this?"

"Ahh…no, that was bought." Bart grabbed a few slices of the apples, "Here have these."

Jaime smiled knowingly and bit into one, humming for his audience as he did, "Very good." He complemented and felt his heart still get that fluttery feeling when Bart smiled that smile that he reserved for just him.

"Here." Jaime grabbed a cube of the pineapple and held it to Bart's lips, "Come on," he instructed when Bart didn't open immediately.

Bart smiled impishly and ate the pineapple directly from Jaime's hand, "Love these." He purred once he swallowed and then went to grab more for himself.

Jaime just smiled gently and chewed gratefully.

Once they got through the main course and appetizers they dug into the cake.

"Dios mios. This is good." Jaime hummed appreciatively after a few bites.

"My grandma made it." Bart bit into his with as much adoration for the taste explosion.

"Bart." Jaime spoke when he set his empty plate down.

"Mm?" Bart looked up and was pleasantly surprised to have Jaime's lips on his own. Bart thought nothing could be better than feeling Jaime's lips on his. Kissing Jaime was quickly becoming his favorite pastime. When they parted after a few moments Bart hummed contentedly, "What was that for?" he asked with an impish smile.

Jaime was looking straight into those emerald eyes as he smiled sweetly, "For this—for you."

"Don't thank me just yet." Bart grinned coyly, "I still have one more trick up my sleeve."

Jaime's eyebrow rose questioningly, _More?_

Bart quickly got up and disappeared for a second before coming back with a newspaper-wrapped something.

"I got this for you a while back but couldn't find the right occasion to give it to you until now." He said with a nervous grin as he handed the package over to Jaime.

"It's…heavy." Jaime commented as he weighed the object in his hands, it was also solid. "Can I?"

"Of course."

Jaime felt around it some more without guessing what it was before he grabbed at the newspaper and began tearing at it layer by layer.

"Oh wow." He said once he had the gift in his hands, uncovered and naked in its splendor. It shone dully in what little candle and moon light there was but the lustrous blue was beautiful and the designs so sharp and foreign. "What is it?" He gaped at the beetle shaped statue.

"I kinda don't know…I bought it at an antique store and the owner said it could be a paperweight or something. I just thought it was cool…It made me think of you, ya know, with how your dad used to collect stuff like that."

"You remember that?" Jaime whispered amazed as he ran his fingers over the smooth metal-stone shell, his eyes showing admiration.

Bart nodded instead of speaking.

"I…" Jaime looked up at Bart with that I-don't-deserve-you, awestruck face, "Thank you. It's perfect. This is perfect," he momentarily looked around before back to Bart, "_You're_ perfect."

Bart blushed and smiled at that.

"I love you." Jaime said.

After he carefully placed the blue beetle statue down on the table, hands came to frame Bart's face and Jaime stroked his thumbs across the cheekbones under his emerald eyes. His fingers wandered, as if memorizing Bart's face in the dim candle light, across his ears, and brushed against his jawline. Bart concentrated on the feel of Jaime's callused hands. He thought he could feel all the love pouring from those hands and seeping softly into his skin and very soul, then Jaime leaned down to kiss him.

It was slow, and vaguely hesitant, but he could feel Jaime pouring himself, and all his love, into him through his lips and that kiss. Everywhere Jaime touched he could feel himself being filled with love and tenderness. Jaime's hands wandered more and slid down his sides, and Bart had no coherent thought except for _please_. His hands came up around Jaime's back and pulled them flush together, not letting any space between them, melting their lips and bodies together.

He thought he heard Jaime make a sound before in one swift move Jaime had him on his back, and he looked up to see Jaime hovering above him.

Hands slid down his sides and a knee slid between his legs, and there was no thought but _more. _Jaime leaned in to press an open-mouth kiss to Bart's neck. The shorter male rolled his hips in response, earning a low growl of need from Jaime. The kiss became a wicked bite, a tongue darting out to soothe the mark soon afterwards, and the auburn moaned when Jaime continued with the bruises that screamed _mine_.

"Oh God, Jaime stop," Bart moaned, becoming equally riled up. This wasn't like the times they'd made out, when all the focus had been on lips and tongues and faces. Their desire was dense throughout their whole bodies, spread like wildfire between them by Jaime's wandering hands.

Jaime considered his request but how could they stop when they both wanted it so bad? He could feel the desire rolling off Bart in waves, making him dizzily high.

"Touch me Bart." Jaime moaned. He knew it was a dirty trick to put the decision in Bart's hands, make him responsible for resisting, but it worked because he could see the restraint in Bart's eyes become clouded by heady desire.

And a second later Bart's hands were on him too, exploring under his shirt and sending shivers through him at how restrained but needy he was.

When Jaime came back up to nip at his lower lip and slide his tongue into Bart's mouth he returned the kiss hungrily.

Jaime lifted one hand to slip under Bart's shirt, brushing against the sensitive skin of his side. Jaime trailed kisses across Bart's neck.

Jaime's hand lightly ran up and down, creating goosebumps on Bart's skin making him shiver. Their lips disconnected so that Jaime could move them to his ear. "I love you." He murmured, his eyes almost black with desire and want and entirely focused on him.

Jaime kissed him again, this time almost chastely. Bart sucked in a sharp breath when a second later Jaime whispered in his ear.

"Say yes."

Jaime tugged at Bart's shirt, exposing his collar-bone. He gently grazed his teeth across it, making Bart whimper.

Bart bit his lips hard enough to almost draw blood.

He knew it was pointless to argue or fight it. He'd wanted this for months, probably as much as Jaime had. And Jaime was offering and he was so perfect and there was no better reason than simply because he knew he loved Jaime and he was ready.

His answer was to grab Jaime by the neck and pull him down to kiss him again.

Jaime hummed happily against his lips as they continued…

* * *

_And, yes, they did "it". I'm just not going to write it out 'cause that's kinda not my expertise. There will probably one or two more epilogues depending on what I imagine they're like later. I was thinking about what Jaime would grow up to do in normal life as a career and I was thinking maybe a bridge designer seemed cool while Bart would definitely work for the police as a forensic scientist._


	16. Grease stains and college letters

**Chapter 16: Epilogue #2**

It'd been a couple months that Jaime and Bart had been living together in a small apartment. The apartment only consisted of one bedroom with a kitchen, small living room and a bathroom but it was all theirs and it was cheap and in a decent neighborhood between Jaime's temporary job and Bart's college.

They'd learned early on that living together came with some fights but they always made up shortly after and occasionally they had make-up sex. Oh yes, the sex afterwards was always worth the fight.

Bart had been awake for a few minutes before the buzzer went off, quickly smacked off.

It was a Monday and Jaime had to get to work earlier than Bart needed to go to school. With a resigned sigh and some stretching Bart sat up with his legs hanging over the edge. He rubbed at his eyes and then looked back at Jaime who hadn't stirred at all. Bart looked around the room, it was filled with things that were reminders and mementos of the time they'd spent together. After a short lapse of their time together Bart stretched to grab a pair of boxers from the nightstand, slipping them on with minimal effort.

He'd learned over the months that there was a certain way of waking Jaime that only he could do. A soft smile slipped in place as he thought of the first time he'd tried to wake Jaime up and how completely different and yet slight the same it was - besos were still involved.

"Jaime." Bart whispered as he hovered over the sleeping man. Jaime had changed considerably since they'd first started dating. He'd become more manly and handsome. His shoulders had widened and he'd grown a few inches, instead of wiry muscles Jaime now had just…muscles. And he had to shave now, Bart still didn't need to shave and he doubted he'd ever have to.

"Jaime." he whispered again as he chastely kissed his cheek, "Wake up." he sprinkled kisses on him until Jaime stirred.

Jaime hummed contentedly without opening his eyes, his voice had deepened a little too since high school.

"Please tell me we have time before I have to go." he spoke alluringly but a quick check at the clock said no, they didn't have time.

"Not if you don't want to be late."

Bart kissed him chastely for an apology but Jaime had different plans, deepening the kiss and pulling Bart flush to his chest. His soft, warm lips melting into Bart's, and Bart'd be damned if he couldn't hear _angels_ singing, because it was simply _that_ perfect. Their fingers were tangled in each other's hair as they rocked their lips together, gentle and intense all at the same time.

"Jaime," Bart gasped breathlessly when they pulled apart, "You'll be late."

"Does it look like I care?" Jaime's voice was deep with lust and need. Hearing his voice now deep with lust and that gravelly tone it took on right after he's woken up; it was the sexiest thing Bart had ever heard.

"Jaime," Bart grappled for excuses as Jaime kissed him again.

"What if-" he spoke between kisses, "you get-fired?"

"Screw the job." Jaime growled then a thoughtful pause, "No, scratch that, we'll screw." he decided then began giving Bart's neck attention.

It was all Bart could do to think straight after that, but the logical part of his mind still blurted, "But I have morning classes."

Jaime paused at that.

"When?" he demanded. Bart blinked, shocked by the sudden stop, "Eight 'o' clock."

It was seven now and would be a fifteen minute drive to his college at least.

Bart saw the conflict in Jaime's eyes before a second later he dove back in with a decided, "We'll be quick." and then everything heated up very quickly from there…

.

.

.

"Reyes, you're late." Jaime's boss said indifferently, continuing his work on the books, as Jaime entered the work shop, heading straight to his locker where his mechanic's uniform was. It was a half-brained job for anyone as mechanically inclined as Jaime but it helped pay the bills, that along with the occasional bartending job got him and Bart along just fine.

"I was busy." Jaime said, a slightly lecherous smile taking hold of his features as he thought of how he'd been 'busy'.

His boss, Mike, was a forty-year old man with sandy brown hair and blue eyes. He looked like the classic all-American guy. Mike had a wicked way of teasing his employees, good-naturedly of course, and Jaime was one of his favorite victims simply because he liked him best. He was picky about who he hired for the exact reason that then he wouldn't have to look over all his employees shoulder's, which made him a rather laid-back boss for the most part.

"This is the third time you've been late this month." Mike said, though there was no threat to it, just an observation.

"I'll be more on time sir." Jaime spoke with conviction and that was enough for Mike, because he knew Jaime. The guy was a hard-worker and true to his word. He worked twice as fast as any of the other bozos he'd hired and twice as good. It was just a shame the guy didn't have a heart for being a mechanic...

"So any letters back from the colleges?" Mike tried conversely, mild curiosity slipping through.

"Not yet," Jaime shook his head as he pulled his legs into the suit.

"They'll come." Mike assured him, glancing up from his work for the first time. He was rewarded with a grateful smile before he returned his eyes to the figures before them, "What did you say you wanted to be again? An architect or something?" his brows furrowed. It was going to be tough trying to find someone to take up Jaime's work after he quit, he'd probably have to hire two people.

"Bridge engineer." Jaime corrected with a boyish grin, though it was lost on Mike who just hummed and continued his desk work.

"Better get to work." Mike said after he made a scribble on his notepad.

"Yes sir." Jaime turned then out of his office.

It was going to be a real shame losing him, but Mike knew Jaime had a bright future in front of him. He was sure he'd be an even better bridge engineer than a mechanic - after all, his heart would be in it.

.

.

.

"Hey." Jaime was greeted as he entered his shared apartment. He had grease stains covering his hands and he was pretty sure there was motor oil or some other type of grease in his hair too, and although he felt grimy and wanted nothing more than a hot shower, that thought was quickly pushed aside by the sound of his lover.

"You're home earlier." Jaime said with a smile as he walked into the kitchen where Bart was digging through the fridge for dinner ingredients.

"Well, I thought I wanted to be there when you opened your letter from that engineering college you applied to." Bart closed the fridge and grabbed the letter Jaime hadn't noticed on their small island.

Jaime's eyes locked onto the letter, a ball of nervousness twisting in his gut. Jaime was pokerfaced to the world but Bart saw the very slight tension showing itself on his face.

"Jaime..." He's concerned, and that alone touches Jaime. He knows that Bart cares for him and no matter what that letter say that he'll be there for him - he takes the letter from Bart's outstretched hand. But, dios mios, what if he gets rejected? Jaime started thinking down a self-deprecating line and imagining his disappointed lover. Bart had been just so excited for him when Jaime said he wanted to become a bridge engineer and he'd done so much to help him search around and figure out a college and had even helped him apply. They'd decided on the closest college, being only a half-hour ride away. They could keep their apartment and wouldn't have to be apart. They'd been saving up since summer, they'd done so much planning and talked about it a lot. Bart would be so disappointed in him. He'd be so broken-hearted. Jaime didn't want to see that. He became withdrawn in his thoughts and Bart saw that furrow in his brow which meant he was thinking too much.

"Hey." Bart pulled him back to reality, Jaime hadn't even noticed when he'd moved to right in front of him, "We'll open it together, and no matter what it says I won't think any less of you."

Jaime was dragged to the couch and pulled between his boyfriends legs, leaning against his smaller frame.

"Are you ready?" Bart kissed the top of his head, only able to do so because Jaime was laying down far enough.

Jaime nodded, his eyes focusing on the letter that could very well determine his whole future. He gathered his courage for a minute and Bart didn't seem to mind the wait, patiently holding his lover from behind and resting his head on Jaime's slightly grease and oil smelling hair. He'd have to bring up later how hot he thought that smell and Jaime's grease-stained hands were...

Jaime grabbed at the seal with his callous, grease-stained fingers and in one slow pull ripped the envelope open. Pausing only a second before reaching in and grabbing the folded paper. Unfolding it with care he flattened the crease and read the first line aloud,

"Dear Jaime, Congratulations...I am pleased to inform you of your acceptance to the fall semester of the (college name) College of Engineering and Computer Science."

A stunned silence then, "I'm...in." Jaime said in disbelief, then "I'M IN!"

"YOU'RE IN!" They both burst out into cheers.

Jaime kissed his lover passionately and deeply, feeling elated to higher highs than he thought possible by school.

"I love you." Jaime murmured against his lips, "Shit, I'm a college student now."

Bart kissed him, passionately but shortly, "That's kind of hot. My boyfriend, genius Bridge Engineer in training." he grinned that goofy smile Jaime loved.

"This is actually happening..." Jaime said with disbelief as he stared into Bart's emerald eyes, so filled with pride and adoration for him.

"Of course it is." Bart smiled lovingly, "You deserve this."

* * *

_Leave reviews telling me what you thought. The next chapter will be the last so I was wondering what YOU guys thought would be a good resolution? _

_Send me reviews or PM telling me what you think would be a good end._


	17. Chapter 17: Final Chapter next

_Hey guys! I know this is a Young Justice fanfic but if you're interested in the **Avengers** I have an Avengers fanfic I just posted. I'll give you a short preview of the story at the end of this note so you can decide yes or no (hopefully yes). It's a completed story so have no fear. (though I could be persuaded to make more chapters)_

_**BUT BEFORE THAT!** This is related to Good Guy: The next chapter will be the last but as an added bonus for all of you guys reading this far I will let you guys give input on what you think it should be. Just leave reviews at the end telling me what you think would be a good ending for this series or what you want to see. I will pick the plot/review that I like the best or think gives the best ending to this story. _

_The title of the story is **Shadow of a good doctor's past **and if you like it then just go to my profile and read the rest! and comment about it there!_

_Without further ado..._

* * *

Shadows of a good doctor's past

Trapped.

Well, in a manner of speaking.

The six members that made up the Avengers all found themselves paralyzed in a most literal and unsettling sense, an invisible force making them completely unable to move any of their limbs. They were frozen smack dab in the middle of some immense black, black room that was completely without any markings on the walls. No doors, no windows, no anything. And the worst part was none of them had a clue where they were or how they'd gotten there.

"Stark, I swear if this is your fault-" Natasha began to threaten, because she hated being trapped the most. Black Widow didn't get trapped, not really, she just pretended to be. But at that very moment, unable to move, she felt very trapped and she didn't like it one bit.

"Hey!" Tony squawked indignantly, "How can this be my fault? I don't know where we are either and incase you haven't noticed I can't move either!"

"It usually is your fault though." Steve stated, almost innocently, though the slight blame in his voice didn't go unnoticed.

"Hey! That's not fair! It's not my fault I'm so popular. I'm loveable. People just want to get closer to me."

"By shooting at you?" Clint quipped.

"They shoot because they're unfriendly." Tony whined with an added pout, "Not my fault they don't know me yet."

Bruce sighed from where he was frozen, really feeling the need to rub at the bridge of his nose. Of all the people to be frozen with...

"Friends?" Thor spoke, looking rather confused, "Why do we all congregate here?"

"Wish I could tell ya Point Break." Tony said airily, "But none of us know what we're doing here-or really where here is? My guess is it's a dream-Natasha's maybe. Because this just seems like something she'd dream about with her limited imagination. Definitely not mine."

"If only Tony's mouth was frozen also." Natasha deadpanned.

"Hey!"

"No, Tony's right. This must be a dream." Steve said, shocking everyone by agreeing. "I remember falling asleep tonight."

"Aren't you supposed to wake up when you realize it's a dream?" Clint pointed out.

"I remember falling asleep too." Bruce spoke up.

They all did once they thought about it...

"Well..." Tony drawled, "I've got nothing."

"Feels too real." Natasha said after a few moments of silence. Dreams never felt like this before.

"That is because, mortals, it is real." a voice broke into their conversation from before them.

Loki appeared like smoke forming before them, a tall blonde dressed scantily in all white at his side, eyes as blue as ice.

"Loki." Steve growled, all Captain America now. His voice hardened and even without moving his aura shifted instantly to that of their leader.

"The man out of time." Loki leered with his insane smile.

"Brother!" Thor's voice boomed, "What is the means of this?!"

A dry, demented chuckle. "Dear _Brother_, I missed you. How great it is that in one's mind physical strength does you no good."

"Excuse me," Tony instated, "We're where? In whose mind?"

"I'm not foolish enough to recite how I did this," Loki took a few steps closer to the Avengers, flicking Thor in the nose with a wild look in his eyes, "But I will tell you what you're about to endure.

"Over the last few weeks I've been shifting through your memories. I probably know you all better than you know yourself. You all have such dark pasts it's a wonder you function together." Loki relished in the shocked expressions on all their faces before he continued, "I would test your metal.

"It will be the most torturous thing you'll ever endure, and when it is done, your team bond will shatter to glorious crumbles. The Avengers will be destroyed from the inside.

"I'm going to trap your collective consciousness into the mind of the most lurid, tortured member of the Avengers as you relive their most painful moments."

All of the Avengers looked to Natasha.

"No offense, 'Tasha, but I really don't want to know what goes on in that dyed-red head of yours." The others silently agreed.

Loki's smile grew into a twisted grin, "But man of iron, I spoke not of her."

Loki took slow deliberate steps towards the self-effacing scientist. Cherishing the looks of confusion on the other's faces and fear hidden deep in the eyes of the good doctor.

"I was speaking of the beast." Loki was looking very much like a cat batting at a fallen bird as the Avengers all stared in shock at the meek, gentle doctor.

The silence was deafening.

"Hate to ruin you little evil moment," Tony broke it, "but I think you have the wrong man. Bruce is as meek as a kitten when he's not hulking out and even then his darkest thought is probably 'Hulk smash'. Are you sure you aren't confusing him with Natasha?"

Loki smiled, a slow smile that creeped onto his lips, "Then, heroes, this will be painless."

Then he, the blonde, and Bruce all vanished and the world around the Avengers shifted.

* * *

_Remember to give your reviews about the final chapter of Good Guy..._

_And if you liked the story above go to my profile and read the rest!_


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